Job Interview
by Runciman1903
Summary: A CatCo employee tries to sort out Kara Danvers' strange life, before welcoming her into the company. Good luck with that.
1. Chapter 1

Where to begin?

Donna took her job as personnel director of CatCo seriously - windowless office notwithstanding. The company, and Miss Grant, relied on her judgment to pick new employees. And Donna expected to rely on them. An editor's nephew who anticipated showing up at 10 and leaving at 3 was in for a major letdown. But could she rely on this slim, bespectacled girl seated across from her? Donna tried not to give much weight to first impressions. But even she could sense the coiled energy, beneath the young woman's polite exterior. A friend from human resources summed Kara Danvers up in two words.

Brilliant.

Baffling.

"Miss Danvers, I've gone over this resume several times. Spoken to your references. Verified what I could. You seem to be a smart, hard working young woman. But I'm not sure you won't leave CatCo a year from now, once something else catches your eye. And there are some…gaps in your background you have been pretty vague about. I'll start with the obvious - 'Birthplace: Canada'. That's it? Not even a province? There are ten, last I heard."

Kara nods, a mock breeziness to her, as she brings up the elephant in the room - or the first of a herd, in this case.

"Plus Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. And I could have been born in any of them."

Donna isn't expecting that reply. Don't children from the poorest, most obscure backgrounds leave some sort of paper trail? Kara is back to business now.

"I am adopted. My birth parents…"

Kara trails off, and shrugs, with a sad half smile. Donna waits patiently. She knows about humble beginnings, though not quite the black hole that seems to loom in this girl's past.

"I am only certain of this: I was born someplace remote, under the radar. And something went wrong."

 _Kara could feel Krypton tremble beneath her feet, as she looked around the tunnel. The hole leading to the night sky seemed small and far away. Lara and Jor-El bent over their infant son in his nearby rocket. Their whispered farewell was lost in the rumbling, as Kara laid her head on her mother's shoulder._

" _It isn't fair", the girl whispered._

" _It is our fate", Alura answered in a resigned tone. But that was no way for her daughter to say goodbye to her family, her world. Alura found the strength to step back, and look Kara in the eye._

" _But Earth has given you and your cousin a second chance."_

 _Kara nodded, knowing what her duty was now._

" _I will do all I can to protect Kal. Their sun, will it really let us do…all that?"_

" _In time. But remember - there are powerful beings in this universe. Some see power as an end in itself. They think themselves raised up to gods, but what they do only sucks them down. Do not think, Kara Zor-El, that they are something separate from you or I. Anyone who thinks or feels could choose that path."_

 _Alura knelt down, putting her arms on her daughter's shoulders. "You both can help the people the Earth. Not by lecturing from on high. Not, gods forbid, by rule. Simply by helping them. One, or many. As a friend nearby. As a stranger from the stars. It will spread hope like the solar winds."_

 _They turned to look, as Kal-El's vessel rocketed out into the night. Kara gasped, as a crack appeared in the ceiling overhead. Time was short, as the girl crawled into her vessel, fully programmed for the long trip to Earth._

 _Alura could not leave it like that, and hit the pause button on the controls. It would not matter if Kara's ship was a few minutes behind her cousins's._

" _And yes, you deserve your life. To be happy. It is your choice. May all those paths be open to you."_

 _Alura leaned into the craft, and embraced her daughter one more time._

" _On Earth, you will do extraordinary things."_

" _I would rather be ordinary. Here, with you."_

 _Alura stepped back from the vessel. Debris was falling, and goodbyes were at an end. She nodded, and Kara pushed the button to seal the craft._

" _Daughter, there is nothing ordinary about you."_

 _The gas for the hyper-sleep filled her lungs. The sounds of Krypton groaning faded away…_


	2. Chapter 2

Much of Kara Danvers' life seemed to be smoke and fog. Maybe that would affect her working at CatCo. Maybe not. Donna would let the young woman tell as much, or as little of her story, as she saw fit. No rush.

"Records were…lost", Kara continued. "I was stuck in this…limbo. For years. Until, something changed. Not sure what. But I got noticed. And someone got word to this couple. Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers." Kara took her sweet time, enunciating every syllable of their names. "They took me in. I hadn't had my own life before. And now I had three. Their daughter, Alex," Kara replied to Donna's quizzical look.

"I was 12, more or less. She was 13. And I just wanted to…inhale everything I missed. I picked Alex's brain about her grandparents, food, everything under the sun. I got the eyeball roll once or twice. What sister doesn't? And books! I read her 'Harry Potter' books on a wet Sunday afternoon."

"Books?", Donna asked. Hadn't she heard that all the Potter books added up to twice the length of 'War and P-'.

"Um, the first two I mean. They were still coming out then. Yeah, I probably would have read until my brains cracked like Don Quixote, if Mom hadn't reminded me of little things like meals and sleep." Donna smiled.

"The Danvers' are both scientists. And reading about Galileo spotting the moons of Jupiter - seeing something no human being had ever seen before - made me want to learn their stories too. Scientists, that is. So I was free to soak up tales of Newton, Caroline Herschel, Hawking." Kara's enthusiasm dialed down suddenly. "And they put their careers on hold, for three years, to make me fully legal."

"Not many immigrants get help like that," Donna replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Kara nodded, almost to herself. "Yeesh, what a vortex of bureaucracy they dived into. Courts, INS, school boards. It was a Phantom Zone all by itself."

Donna's face scrunched up at the unfamiliar term. "What's that? Some pet name scientists have for a black hole or something?"

Kara tensed up, then seemed to weigh the question over. She half smiled, as if at some inside joke Donna was not in on. "Close enough."

"It all fell into place, eventually," she continued. "Papers were passed for adoption. And I was declared a U.S. citizen a week after my 16th birthday."

"More or less," Donna mused, as she went over Kara's paperwork ('resume' didn't seem to apply to chronological, organized chaos like this). "Your date of birth, any significance? Did you pick it yourself?"

"No, the dart did. When I tossed it at the wall calendar."

 _Mrs. Danvers had drilled three phrases into Alex and Kara both. Questions about Alex's new foster sister? Just say: Records were lost. I'm not sure. Mom and Dad are looking into it. "Bore them to death", in Alex's own words. But she didn't seem to find it boring. Kara had noticed Alex's library book the day before - 'SPIES: A Brief Introduction'_

 _Can't have an ID without a Date of Birth. Alex came up with letting the dart decide. Down came the dart board. Up went the 2003 wall calendar. Dart in hand, Kara went over (and over) the days and weeks. So Alex examined her mother's sleep mask in the meantime. She claimed it helped with jet lag, meeting with researchers the world over. Not anymore. Turning Kara Zor-El into Kara Danvers was becoming a full-time job._

" _I don't know why we bother with the Lone Ranger mask, minus the holes. You could just 'zzz' through it." Alex dramatized, with two fingers, x-rays shooting out of Kara's eyeballs._

" _I said I wouldn't", Kara said, her eyes not leaving the calendar. "And I'm still working on that."_

" _You know, maybe it's best to aim for a certain month._ _ **Then**_ _let the dart decide. Big holiday? Hey, it's fate. What about July 4th? Same birthday as Uncle Sam."_

" _Isn't he just a drawing on a poster? Hat, beard, finger. Didn't know they had birthdays."_

 _Alex slowly exhaled, and studied the floor. A puzzled look came over Kara._

" _February has 29 days next year. Why is that?"_

" _Uh, Earth's year. It's 365 days and 6 hours long, more or less. We add an extra day every 4 years, to even it out. Leap Year."_

" _Why do they call it that?"_

 _Alex found the sleep mask of great interest again. "Don't remember." Kara had heard that a lot from her in the last two months. That, and "I'm not sure."_

 _A playful look came over Kara. "Think I'll aim for February. February 15." Alex looked coolly at Kara, as she did her impression of a stereotypical, nosy neighbor she'd seen on more than one TV sitcom. "Your foster sister has the same birthday? Isn't that amazing! And so efficient, too. One cake for both. One card for both."_

 _Kara took the mask in her free hand, and slipped it over her eyes. Turning to the calendar, she raised the dart to throw, saying (in her normal voice) "It's almost cosmic."_

 _Alex stuck her tongue out to the back of Kara's blond head._

" _I heard that."_

 _Glaring at her foster sister, Alex blurted out "Aim for December!" Kara's hand halted in mid-throw._

" _Another big shot was born that month, supposedly. A week before New Year's. Came in a big light show, like your cousin. Said to do amazing things, like your cuz." Kara's arm dropped to her side, gripping the dart._

" _I know your cousin won't touch the 'G' word with a ten foot pole. Maybe you will."_

 _CRACK! Kara slipped the mask off. They looked at each other, then down at the dart in her palm. She had snapped it like a dry twig._

 _Alex's mouth quivered. "I'm sorry, Kara. Mom says, there's so much…we can learn from each other. How's that going? Did you learn from me how to plow through 50 books a week, and remember every word? You tell me about Krypton, and your family sounds awesome. But the rest sounds so remote, I can't picture it. Then I remember they sent you 2000 light years to Earth. And we're still running on dino juice. And fighting over it."_

 _Alex took a breath, as Kara eyed the floor. "I'm amazed by you. And I'm jealous of you. And I hate that. I feel like I'm going to say stupid things until you think the whole human race are a bunch of selfish jerks who ought to go back to the trees."_

 _Kara eyed her steadily. "I don't believe that." And with a straight face, "I believe you should go back to the ooze."_

 _It took Alex a split second to catch the joke. Then, face erupting in mock outrage, she chased after Kara, as if to strangle her._

" _Take that back, you freak from outer space!"_

 _Kara let herself be caught moments later, only to swoop up Alex high above her head, as if she were a kitten._

" _Got you now, Earth creature!"_

" _Unhand me, monster!"_

" _Take me to your leader!"_

 _The basement erupted in laughter. Which died down. Kara eased Alex down. Each looked at the floor._

" _I'll tell Dad I was…testing tensile strength of tungsten, or something like that. I can live without Yahoo! for a weekend. By the way, you still wanna…?" Kara gestured to the calendar._

" _Oh, for Rao's sake," Kara muttered. She grabbed a spare dart and casually sent it sailing to the wall. She turned to face Alex, as it struck home. "Call it. Please."_

 _Alex walked over for a closer look, then bent to pick up the dart snapped in two._

" _July 31. Heh. Same birthday as Harry Potter. And J.K. Rowling."_

 _She beamed as she walked over to the wastebasket. "Kara Zor-El. The girl who…"_

 _The cold light of reason seemed to dawn on Alex, as the dart PLOP PLOP'd into the basket._

" _You aimed for that, didn't you?"_


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, Miss Danvers, I don't know what sort of education you received when you were younger. But you certainly hit the ground running in high school," Donna noted, going over her records.

"National Honor Society. Volunteer at the local library. Storyteller for the younger crowd there." Kara smiled at the recollection. "Then the library director said I **had** to hear about the day the ice storm hit." Kara tensed up at that.

"Power outages galore. Some families had to spend a night at the high school gym. You gathered the young ones around, and said you were saving a special story for a night like tonight. A story about Superman. His family. On Krypton."

"How did the director put it? Ah, yes. 'They laughed. They cried. I laughed. I cried. They cheered. I cheered. I wish I had had a video camera to record the whole damn thing. About keeping hope alive when things are at their worst. I begged Kara to write it down. She said it was just something that came to her in the spur of the moment. And enough people were cashing in on Superman anyway.' "

Kara heaved a sigh of relief. "Not her, at least."

"So…not one sports program in high school?"

Kara seemed to rummage through her memory banks. "Rope climbing for gym class? Oh, right - that was middle school."

"It's nothing," Donna clarified. "It's just, I took you for the athletic type."

Kara shrugged. "I'm more a 'hike through the woods' kind of girl."

 _Jane Goodall came to speak at Otto Binder high school, during Kara's senior year. Kara told Ms. Goodall how much her work - in the environment, in education - meant to her. She felt five seconds away from blubbering. Eyes glistening, she summed up with "I'm amazed by you."_

 _And jealous?_

 _Kara leaned back, against the trunk of a black oak tree. Her feet dangled off the branch, 90 feet in the air. She soaked up the late afternoon rays of the sun. She recalled seeing a TV show about orangutans in Borneo. They built nests out of tree branches. Jane Goodall had seen things like that in person. Not her. College was five days away._

 _Still, being a freak from outer space had it's advantages. Mosquitoes didn't even try to bite her anymore. Had word gotten out? She closed her eyes, and the sounds of the forest echoed up towards her. Wings flapping - insect and bird alike. A tiny, fresh water spring burbled. A campfire crackled - two miles away? Snatches of conversation, about layoffs at the plant. Something metal dropped on a rock. Frying pan? Water was poured briefly on the flames. The crackling didn't entirely die out. The voices grew fainter._

 _That got her attention. How many forest fires had started like this? Her X-ray vision peered through the branches. Fishing poles bobbed up and down, to a truck a 1/4 of a mile away. Kara could easily put the campfire out herself. But seeing something as great as this, menaced by something so small, gnawed at her. She slid off her hiking boots, and held them before her. They were mostly for show._

" _Wimps", she chided, as she took the plunge._

 _The fishing buddies came into the clearing. A girl of 18 or so, whom they didn't know from Adam, stood beside their truck, hurriedly putting on a boot._

" _Afternoon," she said awkwardly. They simply looked at each other._

" _I'm sorry to bother you. But I noticed that your campfire is still smoldering a bit."_

 _The taller one looked bored. "Hey, Smokey the Bear, we poured water over it. It's fine."_

" _Maybe, maybe not. Come on, guys. 10 minutes there. 10 minutes back. A couple of dirty fingernails. Heck," she brightened up. "I can tag along, if you're worried about losing your way in the dark. I have great night vision. Runs in the family."_

 _The guy loudly exhaled in frustration. "Well I guess you can find the brook yourself, then. Now, you wanna step away from my truck?"_

 _The girl's eyes narrowed. The air seemed to grow colder around the girl. No, it was just a saying. But…was that_ _ **steam**_ _coming out of her nostrils. In August? She seemed to notice it as soon as they did. And left without another word…_

 _The campfire was still smoldering when she got there. Kara took a deep breath, the air condensing around her head. Then exhaled, at room temperature. She bent down, to scoop dirt over the embers. Wasn't she singing the praises of dirty fingernails just now? A little distraction, from the ginormous mistake she almost made. Over something so -_

 _A whistle blew in the distance. Not that anyone else would have heard it at this range. "Yes, Mom" Kara acknowledged. Making sure the fire was out cold, she took off her boots again. "You're just along for the ride, aren't you?", she teased._

 _And took off._

 _Well, close enough._


	4. Chapter 4

There was a lull in the conversation, until Donna perked up all of a sudden.

"Kara Danvers - the college years. Well, I guess it should be 'year', singular."

Kara slowly exhaled, as Donna pulled out a printout from a folder.

"You told the U. you wanted to be a journalist who covered the fields of science. You sure made a splash in your first article for the campus newspaper. Any light you can shed on that?"

No eyeball rolls. No grimace. Still, it would be nice to introduce the girl to the game of poker. A good poker face can come in handy in so many different ways.

 _A Sunday afternoon at the U. A maintenance crewman, 45 or so, hauled a bag of garbage, past idle cars and empty spaces, to the dumpster. The parking lot seemed bereft of life, to quote his favorite British comedy show, as he hoisted the bag over the top. And it was, for the next two seconds._

 _A girl appeared, not five feet away from him. Her mouth smiled. Her eyes said, "We have things to do."_

" _Hi. Shahid, right?"_

" _Um, yes" he ventured, as she she offered her hand to be shook._

" _Kara Danvers. Freshman. I'm on the fifth floor," pointing over her shoulder to the dormitory behind her. "Thursday morning I saw, uh, heard water dripping from a pipe near the shower. Somewhere between the floors. I called the school administration 10 minutes later. And again on Friday. I had a family thing on Saturday. And I was just wondering if you or somebody else had heard about it."_

" _Oh yes, that is on my schedule."_

" _You think maybe you could bump it up a bit? To say…"_

 _Kara suddenly tossed some Urdu into the conversation. "Now? Perhaps?" …_

 _Shahid surveyed the scene, chagrin written on his face. Water streamed from a small crack in the ceiling. A plastic storage bin (the girl's) held the flow. She had also stuffed up the doorway with her bath towels, keeping the hallway carpeting (mostly) dry. What was he, proud? Peeved? Why not both?_

" _Yes. That, I can do."…_

 _Shahid balanced on a step ladder. Water was shut off. Decked out in cap and goggles, he cut away at the plaster with his circular saw. Kara stood eight or so feet away, tuning out the roar, eyes locked on the ladder. Ready to spring into a diving catch, if it came to that. Holding the darned thing would have been simpler, but Shahid had visions of her head-butting plaster and getting a concussion. "I'd be batting 1.000 then, would't I?"…_

 _Shahid's top half was swallowed up by the ceiling, as he applied a sealant. His muffled voice came through to Kara, as she swept up bits of plaster._

" _Apologies. People here tend to their little acre before trying to get something done. Easy habit to fall into. Same thing back home. All over, I suppose."_

 _Kara shrugged. "I've seen worse."_

" _So…can you string together more than two words of Urdu?"_

 _Kara spoke her words carefully: "Would you like rice or salad with that, sir?"_

 _Shahid stepped down to look at her._

" _You didn't get that from 'Lonely Planet' ."_

 _She smiled. "Broad Street Diner. I waited tables there for two summers. Afiyah was a new waitress this year. I try to see what I can pick up. I could speak Greek all day by now. Urdu? Little bit. How am I doing?"_

" _Not bad. I heard worse spoken at the U.S. consulate. Say, how long-"_

" _Oh, depends. What did you do back home, Shahid?"_

 _Shahid noticed the change of course. He let it sit, just long enough. "I was a professor at university. Taught engineering."_

" _Really? But you're like the guy in the engine room here, shov…" Her words petered out._

" _Shoveling coal? Hmm, I never thought of it like that", he deadpanned. Kara suddenly found her wet, filthy bath towels of great interest._

 _He stepped around to face her. "I don't have to worry here about the knock on my door at 3AM. Don't have to keep watch for bulky packages, when I take my son to the market place. Things I couldn't buy at home, I get here for free."_

 _Kara nodded. "Still, did you miss teaching?"_

" _Very much."_

" _What, no job openings for a university professor?"_

" _Long story."_

" _I'd like to hear it."_

"Ah", Donna mused. "The interview heard round the world."

Kara quit slouching, and sat back straight. "I didn't quit college because of one interview, Ms. Martinez. But yeah - it helped."


	5. Chapter 5

Donna was glad to finally see a bit of Kara's tough side. So **this** was the girl who hiked across one nation after another. You didn't pull that off without a stubborn streak. Donna itched for details. One thing at a time, though.

"The interview. How'd it go?"

Kara seemed to rummage through the file cabinet in her head. "Shahid asked to meet at the campus gym. His son, Ayub, would be practicing free throws. I brought tea."

 _Shahid and Kara sipped at their tea, as dribbling basketballs echoed through the gym._

" _What about that public meeting you're going to? Something about Tommy guns for campus security?"_

" _Ha ha. AR-15's, to be precise. Semi-automatic rifles. That's 90 minutes from now. Plenty of time."_

"Shahid remembered how proud he was to get a job teaching at university. For a while."

" _I thought I could provide a safe haven in my classroom. Hmm. Shows what I know."_

"Corruption. Conspiracies - real and otherwise. Even the odd kidnapping. It was never far away."

" _I wasn't going to watch my son get sucked down by it all."_

He emigrated to the States." Kara smiled at the recollection. "His wife and son followed the next year."

" _Like winning the lottery."_

"He took a job with the maintenance crew at the U. Something to pay the bills, until he could get a license to teach."

" _ **That**_ _didn't take forever."_

"And then…nothing. No offers. Unless you count being a substitute. And that was a pay cut."

"' _Nothing open'." Really? Teachers leave in the middle of the school year. And graybeards think that retirement is for somebody else."_

 _Ayub popped in now. "Abu, can I call Jimmy?"_

 _Shahid held a hand up. "Not now." Then a thought occurred to him. "Ayub, tell Miss Danvers about Catnap."_

"The boy was a freshman in high school. Had a Mr. Kanap for a chemistry teacher. Started out when my mother Eliza was in kindergarten." Kara rolled her eyes. "Handed out a test to Ayub's class about the periodic table." Kara paused, for Donna to figure it out. Which she soon did.

" 'Catnap' Kanap. The guy who fell asleep."

 _Ayub, head leaning forward, did his best impression of a buzzsaw. Kara shook with laughter, while Shahib merely smiled. He'd seen it all before. The boy now looked to his father in expectation. Sighing, Shahid handed him his mobile. "Don't linger on."_

 _Two minutes later, Ayub was holding the phone up to Kara. "Jimmy was there, Kara! He can tell you all about it."_

" _Manners, boy," Shahid grumbled._

 _The boy cleared his throat. "Miss Kara, my friend Jimmy takes the same chemistry class. If you'd like, you can hear what happened from him." The boy grinned. "So you won't think I made it all up."_

 _Kara hesitated. "Umm…" Then, a change seemed to come over her. Her posture. Her voice. It all projected authority. She was just playing a role. But the kid on the other end of the line didn't know that. Kara took the phone._

" _Yes, James? Kara Danvers. I'm interviewing Ayub's father, about teaching. This story I hear, about a test in chemistry?…I see. Oh don't worry, I won't be naming anyone. You've been very helpful. Thanks for your time. Goodbye."_

 _She hung up. A beat. Then, the three burst out laughing._

Kara wasn't laughing now. "The clock was ticking. I didn't want to miss the big meeting. Heh. Campus security getting big guns. It gnawed at me. I think it put me in a…flame-thrower mood. Colored what questions I asked. How I wrote the thing."

Donna shrugged. "You're only human."

The look on Kara's face. Like she just remembered something.

 _The auditorium was packed with students. The chancellor fielded questions about the proposal to 'upgrade' campus security._

" _Your name, miss?"_

" _Kara Danvers. Freshman. Um, chancellor, I asked an officer with campus PD how long they've been issued firearms. Fifteen years ago, they went on patrol with batons. Now, a Glock isn't enough protection? For who? There is a police station, two miles…" Kara seemed to gaze around the room, until she focused on a spot to her left, and pointed to the wall. "That way. But I don't think we should just focus on rounds and response times. It seems to me, chancellor, that every hour an officer spends training with an AR-15 is an hour he's not getting to know the students here. Going by what we see and hear. Looking out for each other. That is the best protection. Thank you."_

 _A weirdly white-haired young woman stepped up to the mike after Kara. "Olive Silverlock, chancellor. Sophomore. What Kara says, it is something I'd like to believe in. Something I wish I could see more of. But after going to Gotham Academy, I gotta say - looking out for each other only gets you so far."_

 _Nervous laughter echoed through the auditorium. Kara couldn't help but let a small smile slip. Agree with her or not, it was a great line. And true._

Kara looked off to the side. "I didn't name names. Not the school. Not Ayub. Not Snorri Snorison the teacher."

"But someone did."

Kara looked back to Donna. "Ayub's friend, Jimmy. Showed the article to his brother. Who did name names, online. Had nothing better to do, I guess." She shrugged. "Not the kid's fault. You trust your big brother when you're that age."

 _Kara sat ramrod straight in the chair in the chancellor's office. Why did humans put so much emphasis on body language? Slouching? Disrespectful. Leaning forward? Trying too hard. At least a British comedy she liked had had fun with the subject. In one episode, an aide tells the Prime Minister not to lean too far towards the TV camera, lest he look 'like an insurance salesman.'_

" _I asked the high school to respond to the story. I got a lot of hemming and hawing."_

" _No comment' is how journalists usually put it."_

" _Of course, chancellor…I didn't set out to mock the high school. It was a little pinprick to tenure. Jonathan Swift? He would have hauled out the broadsword."_

" _Well I'm not getting texts and e-mails about 'A Modest Proposal'. And they're not about you either, Miss Danvers. Mr. Malik has rubbed some people here the wrong way before. After Katrina, he had some choice words for the Army Corps of Engineers."_

 _What did that have to do with…didn't matter. Just running up the score. One last swing for Shahid, then. Gods, where did all these sports cliches come from?_

" _Him and many others, chancellor. He told me about that. He'd lost relatives to a burst dam back home that same year. It was personal."_

 _Kara eased up on the righteousness. "I will write an apology to the high school. 'Could happen to anyone', that sort of thing. They can huff about the snotty freshman, and Shahid can go about his job?"_

" _If you wis_ h."

"I found out later that all the heat on the chancellor came from one man. The high school principal. An alum of the U. Same with the Katrina business. Another alum. Big voices. Big pockets. I dropped that apology in the mail to the high school. And I thought it meant something."

Donna had no snappy reply.

 _Kara listened to Dante's 'Inferno' on her MP3, as she walked the campus walls at night. It wasn't easy to find a recording in medieval Italian. A great story, even if Virgil's work left her cold. She'd rather have Socrates or Hypatia as a tour guide through Hell. Or Apokolips?_

 _A truck backed into the service dock. A delivery at 9:30 at night? Kara shut her eyes. Her hearing stayed normal. She wondered if she could_ _ **smell**_ _trouble. A real challenge, for once._

 _Black powder. Solvents. Aluminum. She opened her eyes. Ammunition. Cleaning supplies. The AR-15's. The trifecta. "Welcome to the U.", she muttered._

 _Her phone buzzed, and she read the text._

' _I have been fired, Kara. The U. and I were getting tired of one another, anyway. I'm proud of that interview. Tell the best stories you can. Shahid'…_

 _Five hours later, Kara stood on a rocky ledge by a lake, seven miles away. No late night swimmers on a damp 45 degree night in November. She listened carefully, but heard no hikers either. Hew new bath towel was draped over a branch. She crouched down, shut her eyes, gritted her teeth, and launched herself into the night. Breeze through her toes. A moment hanging in the air. The smack of the water surprised even her._

 _The ledge was all messed up, when she swam back. "Sorry,' she grinned. "Mmm, not really."_

"Chopping up the ceiling to get to the leaky pipe. The U. cited Shahid for safety violations. My safety. Hmm. Isn't that rich?"

"Well they kind of…" Donna seemed lost in thought for a moment…"had a point. Shahid. What happened to him?"

"His son Ayub followed my blog a couple of years later. Wrote that his father found a job teaching electrical engineering. Guess the whole rigmarole opened up some doors. Last I heard from Ayub, he was off to West Point. Says he'll try to learn to be the best engineer he can. But he'll try to keep the group think and bad habits to a minimum." Donna raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Good luck with that."

 _Kara sniffed, as she jotted down contact info on the back of a flier, and handed it to Shahid. "My mother, Eliza, would be happy to offer a reference."_ He took the sheet, thanked her, but seemed embarrassed by the tears. She took out a kleenex, and blew. It disintegrated. She leaned forward, hoping the snot would miss her shirt. As she reached into her jacket pocket for another, Shahid said "Might I suggest a handkerchief?… Perhaps?

They looked at each other, and laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

' _This goes to eleven', said rock legend Nigel Tufnel. So did Kara Danvers. That, or one. Two through ten didn't seem to be on her dial._

 _Danielle had been her dorm mate for three and a half months. She'd never met someone as open, as enthusiastic, as Kara. She sounded like George Bailey, with talk of getting out and seeing the world. But change the topic a little, and the well dried up._

 _Science - Danielle confided to Kara that she hoped to make a career in meteorology. She awaited the usual TV weather girl jabs. Kara paused, then asked how long the concept of high pressure and low pressure air had been around for. It wasn't polite conversation - she really wanted to know. Danielle suspected that 'I want to be an entomologist' would have gotten the same response. Speaking of bugs…_

 _Nature - It seemed Kara had an understanding with the insect kingdom. She could hike for three hours in the woods near campus, and not get one bug bite. Danielle was pretty sure she had never smelled a drop of 'Off!' on her. And Jane Goodall? That five minute talk in the auditorium was the high point of her high school years. Danielle's brilliant reply: "Um, the one who studied chimps in Africa and didn't come to a bad end like Dian Fossey, right?"_

 _Music - Kara had a jaw dropping variety of music. Gershwin. Ravi Shankar. Robert Johnson. Adele's new album next year? Kara could "almost smell it coming". CD's, vinyl, the odd tape. Nothing on her MP3 but audio books and podcasts, though. "The songs lose something", she shrugged. Columbus Day turned into an epic music swap. Too good to last, of course. One guy casually mentioned his file sharing. It went, in 15 minutes, from polite disagreement, to "Corporate stooge!" and "Mr. Ripping-Off-Your-Favorite-Artists!" being hurled about. "That went well," she muttered into her pillow that night._

 _And she did mean well. Their neighbor was on the bench of the basketball team. Broke her ankle, in a bad fall during practice. And just in time for the elevator to the 5th floor to be out of service. Danielle heard the story later, from the hoopster:_

" _She offered to carry me up the stairs. Believe that? 'I've got 30 pounds on you. You'll be in worse shape than me'. Fine…she'd follow a step behind. Man, was I sick of that stairwell by the 4th floor. Then Danvers stepped up, looked at me and said - 'It's in you'."_

 _And yet - mention family, and the tap turned off. Mother was a scientist of some sort, who travelled a lot. Sister was a year ahead of her in college. No mention of her father. Or boyfriends past. Her business, of course. It was almost as if…Kara took pride in what human beings could do, but kept people at a distance._

 _Well, if she wanted to live in a world of ideas, she had the head for it. God, what a memory! Who needed Wikipedia, when you had Kara Danvers as a roomie? It was…creepy? Rumors of meta-humans were never far away. Danielle brought it up once, in high school, with her sociology teacher. What if a friend admitted it to her? Would she burn her bridges, for no good reason? He shrugged._

" _Do more? That's easy. Be more? That's the hard one."_

 _That awesome head on Kara's shoulders seemed to have many rooms. Ever since that business with her friend from maintenance (Shahid?), and the guns, Kara had gone all Spock of late. No, the Vulcan could find plenty of things 'fascinating'. Kara had just stuffed her fascination in a back closet. She wasn't rude, exactly, just all business. Danielle saw the writing on the wall, sort of, one evening. Kara was looking up something on her laptop. Danielle caught a glimpse of the search entry, reflected in the mirror: storm chasers. And her, the student of weather, ten feet away…_

 _The snow swirled out the window, on a Saturday afternoon, the semester winding down. Danielle sat on her bed, going over a rough draft of a paper due Monday. Kara lay on her own bed, reading a library book about - oh, did it matter? Danielle had lost count._

 _Then, she spotted Kara's music collection, peeking out from under the bed. Chink in the armor?_

" _Kara?"_

" _Mmm?", Kara looked up from her book on thermodynamics._

" _Someone I know from Plastino Hall is going caroling with friends after last exams, Wednesday. I'm tagging along. I'd love it if you could too."_

 _Kara mulled it over (or tried to look like it). "Sorry, I'll be busy packing."_

 _They both knew her closet could be emptied in five minutes. A change of scenery was looking good to Danielle. No long walks in this weather, though. Filling up the canteen would do. As she bent over their desk to grab her water bottle, she noticed something on Kara's notepad._

 _Kara didn't write down a word in lectures, usually. Too busy soaking in the knowledge. She'd draw geometric figures. To keep from getting bored? A famous moocher had positioned himself behind her for one class, presumably for crumbs off her table. Danielle had seen him go pale, during the exam Friday. Now she knew why. She held the pad up to Kara. Beneath the cones and cubes, in big letters:_

 _PLEASE DON'T DO THAT_

 _Danielle held the pad up to her. "So, that's what creeped out 'part time' Tommy. You know what? It kinda creeps me out, too."_

 _Kara sat up, slipping her Large Hadron Collider postcard to mark her place. And waited._

 _Danielle wasn't one to 'tell it like it is'. Did she have some keen insight into the world others lacked? Nope. But she could weigh the evidence. Guess where things pointed. And she didn't like where things were pointing Kara Danvers._

" _Your friend lost his job. For no very good reason. The school got big ass guns. For no very good reason. You stuck your neck out to the chancellor. You were right. And it didn't matter." Danielle now adopted a mock, cheerful tone._

" _Welcome to Planet Earth! Where life isn't fair. Sure, you can bury yourself in your head. Better than anyone I've ever met. But what will that change?" Kara looked aside, chagrined._

 _Danielle picked up her water bottle, and pointed to her own head with her free hand. "THIS is not some machine that just sucks up data, and gives nothing back." Kara's head whipped towards her, eyes wide, as she sucked in a breath. Danielle had hit a nerve, though she hadn't the faintest notion how, or why. "Or, it shouldn't be," she muttered, as she left for a refill._

 _Two minutes later, Danielle came back to a different roommate, it seemed. Her eyes were red, but she had the air of someone who knew where she was going._

" _I never sang much," she began. "But I remember my mother Eliza going to Seattle for a conference. She took Alex and I, for once. Said that morning she had a surprise for us. It all came back to me in October, when I heard about the 25th anniversary concert."_

 _Danielle knew at once. 'Les Miz"._

 _Kara started slowly, softly, exercising muscles not used in a long time._

" _Welcome, M'sieur, set yourself down / and meet the best innkeeper in town_

 _As for the rest, all of them crooks / rooking their guests and cooking the books."_

 _Danielle soon joined in for the chorus, hoping the damn wheel on her tablet would stop spinning, so she could be sure of the lyrics._

" _Servant to the poor, butler to the great / Comforter, philosopher and lifelong mate!_

 _Everybody's boon companion! Gives 'em everything he's got!"_

 _Danielle dropped her tablet on the bed in frustration, as Kara dared her to pick up the baton._

" _Dirty bunch of geezers! / Jesus, what a sorry little lot!"_

 _Danielle took a deep breath, and hoped those faint memories would kick in, right about now._

" _I used to dream that I would meet a prince / But God almighty, have you seen what's happened since?_

 _Master of the house? Isn't worth me spit! / 'Comforter, philosopher' - and lifelong shit!_

 _Cunning little brain, regular Voltaire / Thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there"…_

" _Everybody raise a glass!"_

' _Yeah!'_

" _Raise it up the master's ass!"_

" _Ha ha ha ha!"_

" _Everybody raise a glass to the master of the house!"_

 _They filled in for the missing orchestra, with an a capella "da da da da da." Kara smiled, as Danielle exhaled with relief._

" _Where did that come from?"_

" _Alex and I belted it on the monorail back to the hotel. Drove Eliza up the wall."_

 _A familiar face appeared in the open doorway. Jen, another 5th floor resident. Junior year, country music fan, and aspiring poet._

" _Guess I do hear the people sing."_

 _The debate was on. 'Les Miz' - great work of art, or no?_

" _Sure, I thought it was the greatest musical ever. Just like I thought 'Romeo and Juliet' was the best play ever," Jen explained. "I was 15. You don't see the chains being yanked at that age."_

 _Kara could see her point. "Well, there's a time and a place for Stanley Kubrick, too. But isn't making you think pulling your chains, too?" Kara paused, and a Grinch-like smile slowly spread over Kara's face._

 _Jen tensed up. "What?"_

 _Kara said simply, "Dare." And pretended to swig from a bottle. "Glug glug glug."_

" _Drink with me to days gone by," Jen sang softly. Danielle knew Kara had gone easy on her. Nothing says country & western more than crying into your beer._

" _Can it be you fear to die?_

 _Will the world remember you when you fall?_

 _Could it be your death means nothing at all?_

 _Is your life just one more lie?"…_

 _Another listener showed up, and was recruited to sing 'Who am I?" Four became six. The tablet was finally up to speed. Others milled in the hallway. The jeers and catcalls never quite materialized._

 _Jen pointed to Danielle, and simply sang a few bars of the famous Everly Brothers song - "Dream, dream dream dream…" Danielle sighed, and rolled her eyes._

" _And still I dream he'll come to me / That we will live the years together_

 _But there are dreams that cannot be / And there are storms we cannot weather!"_

 _There felt like a grater in her throat. A character she loved. Fantine's one chance to tell her own story. And some girl in dinner theatre could do it better than her._

 _Well, at least there was one consolation. They'd saved the 'put through the wringer' number for the end. She turned to Kara, after the applause._

" _Bring it home", she rasped. Kara closed her eyes, and exhaled._

 _Kara's delivery was spot on. But open your eyes, and it became gut wrenching. She looked off to the side, tears streaming down her face. You didn't have to be the world's greatest detective to see this wasn't all thanks to Schoenberg, Boubil and Victor Hugo._

 _It was personal._

" _The summers die, one by one_

 _How soon they fly, on and on_

 _And I am old, and will be gone._

 _Bring him peace_

 _Bring him joy_

 _He is young_

 _He is only a boy."_

 _Kara finally stumbled. "Y-, y-…I'm sor…"_

 _Danielle rode to the rescue, wrecked voice and all._

" _You can take, you can give."_

 _Kara seemed to find new air in her lungs. They did the last few lines, as a duet._

" _Let him be, let him live…"_

 _As the applause died down, Danielle dearly looked forward to a nice tea with honey, at Jimmy's Diner. Oh, right - they closed early, due to the snowstorm._

 _Awesome._

" _Well," Jen announced, "guess we'll have to send them off with a rousing rendition of 'One Day More'." Kara's eyes lit up. So did the three newbies. Jen's jaw dropped. Danielle's jaw clenched. "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", she whispered to Kara…_

 _It worked. Mostly. Danielle was most proud of 'Eponine' holding onto the note, clenched fists and all, for "he never saw me therrrrre!" So was Kara. Too much so. She just made it in time for "One more day before the storm!", brandishing her tiny paintbrush, as Enjolras' musket. Danielle was happy to leave the heavy lifting of her duet to 'Cosette'. The overlapping lines were a bit of a wash. Until it all fell into place._

" _TOMORROW WE'LL DISCOVER WHAT OUR GOD IN HEAVEN HAS IN STORE!_

 _ONE MORE DAWN!_

 _ONE MORE DAY!_

 _ONE…DAY…_ _ **MORE!**_ _"_

—

Donna considered Kara's example.

"Well…I guess that counts as teamwork. Unfortunately, there's no musical theatre department at Catco, last time I checked."

Kara scrounged around for another example of teamwork, from her college career. Not many to choose from, it seemed.

"Does rescuing stranded motorists count?"

—

 _Danielle sipped the cup of hot tea, with honey, that Kara had scrounged from a neighbor on the 3rd floor. How did Kara know which door to knock on? She was too tired to put up with another vague reply._

" _Thanks for the tea, you sadist", Danielle croaked._

 _My pleasure."_

 _They were on the ground floor lobby, with the rest of the 'cast'. The Weather Channel was on TV in the background. White noise, really. Music was discussed. Lounging in her sweatpants and bare feet by the window, Kara mentioned how she had come across an article about the fourteen greatest concert halls on the planet. "And I'm going to make it to every one of them."_

" _You've got some miles ahead of you," Jen said, admiringly. "Which ones?"_

 _Something seemed to distract her. She briefly looked out into the dark, and a mischievous smile came across her. She bolted for the stairway door._

" _I can print a copy for you," she said breathlessly._

 _Jen was at a loss. "Umm, you don't have…"_

" _I won't be long," Kara tossed off, as she slipped through the door._

 _The 'cast' looked in unison at Danielle, seated near the door. She shrugged. Such was Kara Danvers. What was that - woosh of air? She hoped the heating system wasn't feeling it's age._

 _Fifteen seconds later…_

 _A car spun its wheels, stuck in a snowbank, when a hand knocked on the frosty window. Down came the window. There stood Kara Danvers, complete with winter jacket and knit hat, brushing snow off her shoulders, a wide smile on her face._

" _Evening, chancellor. Can I give a hand?"_


	7. Chapter 7

"I looked up science journals. Made enquiries," Kara continued, with a bit too much enthusiasm. "Hmm. I wonder who decided that being an intern meant 'gaining experience'. Not 'working for free'.

Donna simply peered over her glasses at her.

"But I'd stick around until May. See what I could learn at the U."

"How'd that go?"

The enthusiasm dialed down. "My roommate, Danielle. Studied meteorology. Had this idea. Project on the side. I was hooked. We ran with it. Thought we'd be pioneers. And she…kind of ran herself ragged."

Kara gaze veered off to the side. "Reading books, articles? No problem. Reading people? Yeah - learned I had a ways to go."

—

 _That was a weekend to forget. If only._

 _Rain came down in the alley. Not on the three of them, though._

 _Kara took pride in how she'd honed her senses, these past eight years. It meant zilch now. Wind? Heat? Air pressure? None of that was keeping the wet stuff away. It was like the rain drops had…other places to be. So that's what Kal (oops) Clark felt around magic. Even from the 'good guys'._

 _At least she could make out what was being said to the wannabe criminal genius in the back of the car down there._

" _Og Ot peels."_

 _The high heeled figure clip-clopped her way back to them, at a leisurely pace. Rain steered clear of her top hat. She held up a headset, of some sort, to them._

" _Mystical. Technical. Some knuckleheads think they go together like peanut butter and chocolate, I guess." She dropped the device in her top hat._

" _You did some good this weekend, Danielle."_

 _Danielle's gaze was steady. Her hands trembled. On a mild Sunday night, in May._

" _Thank you, Z," she deadpanned. "I know you're busy with terrors beyond imagination and all that." Her eyes narrowed. "I woke up Friday morning. I didn't know about…this. Those three days? Take 'em." Danielle pointed to the side of her head. "I don't want 'em. It'll make Kara's life simpler. That's what matters"_

 _Kara winced at that one. And it only got better from here._

" _So…", Zatanna began. "You went to bed Thursday night. And your roommate was plain old, humdrum, run-of-the-mill Kara Danvers?"_

 _Ten seconds passed. Gods, was that all?_

" _No," Danielle muttered. "But_ _ **you**_ _…"_

 _The air temperature didn't really drop around her, did it?_

" _You do not turn nine months of my life into a fog bank. Not before getting my side of the story."_

 _That jogged something. 'Z' lowered her gaze._

" _That…is true." Kara and Danielle both blinked. It was?_

 _Back to business. "There are rules," Zatanna said simply. And waited._

 _Danielle's mouth opened. Nothing came out. She closed her eyes, and lowered her head. Brain freeze?_

" _I was on the debate team, at Wheeler," Kara's roommate began slowly. "I never did get the hang of making my case…in wet sneaks, in a dark alley, to a girl in fishnet stockings."_

 _Danielle looked up to the magician. "But they gave us time to prepare."_

 _Zatanna gave Kara a look. Amused, but no mistaking the message - you owe me._

" _Your place? One hour?"_

 _Danielle slowly exhaled, and nodded._

" _It has to be spoken", 'Z' said patiently._

" _Nicholson Building. Room 524. One hour. Be there or be square," Danielle clarified, in one breath._

 _The 'Mistress of Magic' nodded, but had one more card to play._

" _Please turn off all electronic and recording devices, prior to departure."_

 _The aspiring meteorologist handed her phone, and pen, to Kara, like a cooperative airline passenger._

" _I wasn't planning on texting myself, 'KARA'S AN ALIEN'._

" _There are rules."_

" _Oh, Z," Kara chimed in. "Thank you so much. This means a lot to me."_

 _She felt herself shrink an inch, from the look Zatanna gave her._

" _There are rules."_

 _And then, to nobody in particular…_

" _Niar raeg"._

 _Danielle flinched as if a gunshot had gone off. Then saw her sparring partner (of sorts) decked out in boots and a yellow slicker, complete with umbrella. The rain found its way to the three ladies in the alley, at long last._

" _Good luck," she said simply, and walked away._

" _Wow", Kara exhaled. "That was…wow." She took a second, to admire the grubby alley. "How'd you do that? Ever thought of switching to law sch-."_

 _Danielle. Ten feet away. Passed out. Falling head first. Straight for a brick wall._

 _Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Eggs._

 _"Beautiful, precious, irreplaceable, once-in-a-lifetime eggs that you would never, ever let the slightest harm befall. Got it?"_

" _Yes", Kara grumbled to her sister, ace of her high school softball team. It was July. Softball was over. And Kara assured her that they had this stretch of forest to themselves._

" _Think fast!", as Alex whipped an egg into her sister's chest._

" _Hey!"_

 _A clean shirt and sweatpants hung on a tree branch for Kara. Ten dozen eggs were laid out below them, beside a bag for the soon-to-be runny gear Kara now wore._

" _Ah well," Alex mocked. "There's another life you couldn't save, Miss Sledgehammer. You could always find work in building demolition, I guess…"_

 _Caught! Half an inch from the wall. Respiration. Heart rate. Hmm - could be worse. Fainted. Could be worse…_

 _Kara caught the umpteenth egg hurled at her that afternoon. She had the movements in her palm, wrist, tendons, down cold. So simple. So easy to overlook._

" _It's still attached, right?"_

 _Kara smirked at her dead-armed sister. Should have called up the bullpen 20 minutes ago. They both knew it. Couldn't resist going for one more splatter._

" _More or less."_

 _Alex nodded. Kara placed the uncracked egg down beside the survivors, and peeled off her eggy sweatshirt. The flies had finally noticed._

" _I think you'll have to cut up mom's turkey burger for me, tonight."_

" _Okay."_

" _And feed it to me."_

" _All for a good cause."_

 _Vitals…stable. She sighed in relief, holding up Danielle's limp figure._

" _Thanks, Alex."_

 _A crackling radio. The cops! Three blocks away. Some crime fighter she'd be. Z said she'd drop a dime on Mr. Meditation headset / ID thief._

 _Carry her five blocks to Nicholson? Too damn far. Some unit would notice the 'Wuthering Heights' scene. Questions. Delays. Maybe even an ambulance._

 _Criminy - Sully's Bar it is. Couch in the manager's office, at least. And no smokers allowed. She carried Danielle in the front door._

 _Time for the pathetic freshman routine._


	8. Chapter 8

I think Kara's 2015 interview with Donna can take a short lunch break. I have not forgotten about Catco's personnel director. But for this instance, I'm treating Kara, Danielle and Zatanna's little chat in the dorm room as the present day. I've dropped hints, but Kara's one year in college takes place during 2010-11. And this is kind of an interview too. 'Supergirl', and DC Comics, are both owned by Warner Brothers. Thank you all so much for your support.

Rain pinged off the hood of the taxi, as Kara and Danielle got out. Danielle stepped under the awning, in front of Nicholson building. Kara tried to hand the driver a couple of bucks, but he declined. "It's taken care of. G'night". And so drove off. Kara's sunniness almost cut through the gloomy weather. Danielle was subdued. It wasn't just from being out cold 45 minutes earlier on a couch. But it helped.

Kara sighed, and turned to her roommate. "Ah, what a gent. It's too bad I'll never get to write about tonight on Sully's 'Yelp' page."

"Kara."

Right. Swooning time is over.

"Kara, what I did - I can't leave it out, tonight. She'll… **know.** I can feel it." Danielle pointed to her head. "She is not popping the hood open to find out. But I don't think she's gonna like it."

Kara gazed steadily at her. "From what she deals with, everyday? She's not thin skinned, Dani."

"Well, neither…are…you!" Danielle burst out laughing.

Kara groaned, as Danielle grabbed hold of her knees, to steady herself. Kara took her gently by the shoulders.

"You pass out again, I'm leaving you on the pavement for Z to deal with."

"Sorry…couldn't…resist."

"Less chortling, more breathing." Kara checked her watch. "The great debate starts in six minutes."

"Oh, crap!" Danielle whipped out her keys…

Zatanna could play the den mother to perfection. Waited patiently in the hallway, as the college freshmen changed into some dry sweatpants. Walked in wearing jeans and not fishnets (for now), bearing a tray of her favorite English tea. Just wanted to clear up a very confusing weekend. No need to go downtown. Or to the Watchtower. Or some far-flung mystical realm.

Seated on her bed, Danielle emptied her mug. "It's kind of an obscure word now, Kara," she began. "But I…come from a family of scofflaws."

Zatanna smiled at the idea of a Millennial dropping 1920's lingo into the conversation. Kara was just puzzled.

"Like…bootleggers?"

"Well, that too. But I wasn't thinking of my great-grand uncle 90 years ago." Danielle assumed a mock, nostalgic air.

"I like the word. It covers so much territory. Knock-off Ugg boots. Pirated DVD's. And that's just the high schoolers in the family." Standing by her own bed, Kara looked on with sympathy.

Danielle turned to Zatanna, a bit of bitterness leaking through. "Even ran a fake star registry once. Sold pieces of paper saying a star was named after someone's girlfriend. Hmm - the one time I felt like parting saps from their money." She quickly turned to Kara. "But I didn't."

"And truthfulness? That runs in the family too?", the magician asked from her chair.

"Not really. I'll give this to Dad, though - he taught me to see what's around me. A loophole. An angle. It helped, when I studied weather patterns. Not his idea, of course."

Danielle looked out the rain-streaked window. "By Christmas, I knew. Seeing 'Les Miz' on the stage, and remembering every word three years later? Hands that never got scratched in the woods, or chapped in the winter?" Kara looked down at the hands in question.

"That didn't come from ginseng and moisturizer. I thought Kara was a metahuman. And then, it didn't matter." Danielle looked back to her roommate.

"My folks spend every day seeing what they can get away with. That, is not you." Kara sniffed. A regretful smile came over Danielle.

"Wouldn't it be great, if it were that simple?"

 _Kara and Danielle sat on the thinly carpeted floor of their dorm room. A fierce January wind howled outside._

" _I am so out of here," Kara began. "Transferring wouldn't mean anything. It would be the same chancellor with a different face."_

 _Danielle nodded. "Where to now? The Park Service? Your buddy Jane Goodall's Institute?" Danielle smirked. "Dinner theatre?"_

 _Kara peered over her glasses at Danielle. "I've served enough dinners, thank you. I've thought about them, sure. Science journals, too. It's just…there's so much of this world I've never seen. I can travel light. Live cheap. Put my passport to good use. And then what? My mother, Eliza…How should I put it? She wouldn't mind my camping out in Slovenia. Living in a tent the next state over? Yeah - a little."_

" _Would it be so bad to move back home? You can't even buy a beer for 18 months."_

" _Oh, that." So, what, time was something that happened to other people?_

" _It's…I guess I want it both ways. I want to roam free,_ _ **and**_ _have a place of my own to go back to."_

 _Danielle looked at the two framed photos Kara kept on the wall. One was from her sister's high school graduation. The wind whipped Alex's gown. Kara stood squarely behind her, arms on her shoulders, as if to keep the girl from blowing away like Dorothy. Their mother looked on - smiles all around. The other photo was of Kara, seated on a gym floor, telling a story to some children. From memory, it seemed - the book was closed shut. Some ice storm or other. Danielle turned back to Kara._

" _I won't pretend I know you top to bottom, Kara. But I know you…want to do some good. I have this idea, about collecting data for weather forecasts. The number crunching is done by these supercomputers now. Well, processing speed keeps going up. How long before a tablet or smart phone can do the job nearly as well? Lots of vulnerable places out there."_

 _Just what she wanted to hear._

" _Go on."_

"What a team we'd make. She had visions of saving lives. And I had visions of using that jet-fueled brain to pad my resume." Danielle seemed to deflate before the two. "Kara used up half the scrap paper on campus. But after two months, she knew it wouldn't work. Not cost effective."

 _A St Patrick's Day shamrock hung over the cafeteria table. Danielle glared at her half-eaten bagel, as Kara gave the bad news._

" _Nature doesn't care about CPU's, Dani. I'm sorry."_

"I kept pushing, off and on. Then I started grasping for any scrap that hinted I may not be 100% wrong. Like a good researcher should." Kara's eyes narrowed. Don't disrespect her good friend the scientific method.

"I finally bailed on that by the start of May. By then, we'd speak ten words to each other in a week."

 _Danielle planted herself by their wastebasket Friday afternoon, ripping one credit card application after another in half. Kara sat on her bed, going over the ''Please hire me' letter on her laptop. A hand-written envelope caught Danielle's eye. "This one's for you," as Kara looked up. Danielle, heading out the door, sent it spinning towards her. Kara, looking back down, whipped out her hand in a tenth of a second and caught it._

 _I would have said something about that, once._

Danielle's voice cracked. "My roommate. Who had these gifts - that I didn't want to think too much about. And for what? To write about the latest study on termite damage? I didn't want to leave like that. See her like that."

 _Kara started printing her letter to the Entomological Society of America, and finally turned to the envelope beside her. She sucked in a breath, when she saw the postmark._

 _Metropolis._

"Heh," Danielle continued. "Some mentor I'd be. I was a lousy friend."

 _Danielle walked the town, hands in her pockets, doing a spot-on Ringo by the canal in 'A Hard Day's Night'. Then, a sign in front of the old armory caught her eye._

 _WELLNESS FAIR_

 _ALL WEEKEND_

 _2 - 8 FRI_

 _10 - 4 SAT & SUN_

 _She shrugged, and stepped inside…_

 _Kara ripped the envelope open. A newspaper clipping fell out, and nothing more. Nothing was scribbled on it. Just an advertisement for the Gardner and Murphy theatre downtown._

 _TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY_

 _FRIDAY 8PM_

 _SATURDAY 2PM_

"A lousy scientist."

 _Danielle made her way to a kiosk, marked:_

 _MEDITATION HEADSETS_

 _ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE MEETS_

 _MODERN SCIENCE_

 _The vendor, a dark haired man of 25, turned towards her. "Final exams getting you down?"_

" _Not really, no"…_

 _Guess Clark doesn't trust e-mail. Must be a slow week for the JSA._

 _ZATANNA!_

 _MISTRESS OF MAGIC_

"And since the only one I conned was myself, I was a lousy grifter, too." Danielle wiped a tear, as Kara winced. The magician kept her thoughts to herself.

"Wouldn't my Dad be proud?"

" _The mind is a mysterious place," said Phil._

 _Says that, on his 'Hello my name is_ label. So it must be true._

 _Phil held up the headset. "This doesn't hold the answers. But it's a place to start. Just one of many."_

 _Danielle took the headset. "How does it work?"…_

 _YOUR MIND IS AN OPEN BOOK TO HER_

 _Hope there's a ticket waiting for me at the door. I'm tapped out._


	9. Chapter 9

The rain drummed against the window, late Sunday morning, as Kara Danvers finally settled on her alias.

Herschel C.

A shout-out to Caroline, sister of Sir William (of Uranus fame), and an awesome astronomer in her own right.

The workplace would always be waiting. Blogging? Maybe not. She'd enjoyed travel blogs, science blogs. Time to mix and match?

It didn't pay much more than the odd $5 donation. But she didn't need three square meals a day.

Or one?

Alex had said to her, after living here a year, "So, you get your energy from the sun, right? Could you live on water, sunshine and fresh air?"

Smart ass.

Yeah, she wasn't going there. Not yet.

Her phone rang. A local area code, but not a number she recognized.

"Hello?"

"Kara?"

"Dani, what's up?"

"Oh, jeez this is embarrassing. I tried to read a text and duck out of the rain at the same time. Misjudged the curb. Heh - splat!"

"Yeesh. Are you all right?"

"A little sore right now. It's just, my phone drowned in a puddle. And my keys flew down a storm drain. Feeling a little stressed right now."

"I'll come get you. Where are you?"

"A print shop. I have their business card here, somewhere."

Danielle then spoke in the softest whisper humanly possible. It was an inch away from lip-synching. Who was supposed to make this out?

"I need your help."

Oh. Her.

"I trust you. And I hope you will trust me."

Just like that, Danielle switched back to her normal, gravelly tones. "Ah, here it is. Donny Press, on Robinson Lane. Know where it is?"

"Umm…sure, I've walked by it often enough."

"Great. I'll be here." Click…

Kara and Danielle rounded the corner, and into the back alley behind Donny Press (among other businesses). In her wet, filthy clothes, Danielle would have made a great Les Miz cosplayer as Eponine. Huddled under the one umbrella, Kara had a front row seat to Danielle's nerves. And Dani, to Kara's coolness.

Danielle silently mouthed three words:

"You're from Krypton."

Kara couldn't face her.

"I will tell you everything," Danielle said, quietly. "You don't have to tell me anything."

"Guess not." Two words, so damned close to being said aloud. Enough. She came to you. Kara turned back to her roommate.

"There's time for that later. What is going on?"

 _Danielle whipped off the meditation headset in ten seconds. Drained? Numbing? Neither? Both? Must have looked as wild-eyed as the the Bride of Frankenstein. Right at Phil._

" _Umm, sorry," she explained a moment later, eyeing the vague readings on his tablet. "I think there's enough tech out there now, noting what I watch and read. No need to add brainwaves to the mix. Heh." She smiled. The Bride gave better ones._

 _Phil shrugged. "Sorry to hear that. Work in progress, really. Hope you find the rest of the wellness fair more useful."_

 _Yeah, you're taking this as lightly as I am…_

" _So, how was the wellness fair yesterday?"_

" _Huh?" Danielle looked up from her laptop. The battery was at 19% and falling._

" _Ran into Jen at the cafe," Kara explained. "Last two there for breakfast. She mentioned seeing you at the armory."_

" _Oh, uh - lots of promises. Quick fix artists, mostly," said Danielle hurriedly._

" _Well I'm no health guru, Dani. But water and a cereal bar isn't the best breakfast out there."_

 _Says the regular consumer of sticky buns. Danielle recalled a program on Kara's desk this morning._

" _So…Zatanna. Caught her show last night?"_

 _Kara tensed up, for whatever reason. "Umm…yes?"_

" _How was it?"_

" _Mmm…pretty good. You into magic much?"_

 _Danielle shrugged. "Oh, I've followed Penn & Teller forever. I like their shyster act. Zatanna? You hear weird stories. One night an audience will sing her praises. The next night they can hardly recall a thing. What, does she have some rival that turns them into mice for an hour?" _

" _Heh." Kara's smile reminded Danielle of a rookie lawyer her cousin hired once._

" _Never saw Zatanna before. Or did I? Anyway - what brings her to a little theatre like ours? Wasn't she at Royal Albert Hall?"_

 _Kara played casual. Or tried to._

" _Oh, those magicians. Always playing close to the vest. Doing anything later?"_

" _Ah, things. You?"_

" _Stuff"…_

 _Google had precious little to say about Phil and his headsets. The director of the wellness fair (over the phone) gave only a little more. So Danielle dusted off her strong box, once she was alone. A workplace ID lay inside, giving her name as Aya Rothwell. Employer to be added later (meaning now). Good thing there's tiny print fonts. And an extendable baton - a graduation present. 'Betty'. Thanks, Uncle Mal…_

" _Do you chat with everyone coming and going, Miss…?"_

" _Rothwell. ma'am," the clipboard wielding young woman replied. "Sometimes, ma'am. The health department is conducting an anonymous survey. Would you like to answer a few questions about your time at the wellness fair?"_

 _Her dad had taught her a lot about how to read people. Voices. Expressions. Danielle figured that's where the feelings she got about others came from. Made sense. Until Phil and his amazing meditation headset drilled a big question into her skull:_

 _Is that all?_

 _So, here she was, outside the armory. Steering clear of the college-age crowd that might recognize her. Middle-aged and up, please. She hoped to get a 'read' on two people. One who tried the headset. One who didn't. Before and after. The scientific method, or something._

"And damned if I didn't hit pay dirt." Danielle couldn't seem to take her eyes off a tarp in the alley. "That numb, drained feeling. Just a whisper. But it was there. Off this thin, 30-something guy. Wasn't there when he walked in. Wasn't there with the other woman I surveyed."

Kara was skeptical. "Did you see him put the headset on, Dani? Maybe you saw what you wanted to see."

"I peeked inside for 5 seconds, Kara, to see if Phil was there. I spent the other 90 minutes waiting for customers, and watching cars."

Kara nodded slowly. "Then what?"

"Hemmed. Hawed. Ran out of ideas. Show closed for the day, and he was gone. Finally decided I'd buy a headset Sunday. Take it to Professor Kender, from Electrical Engineering. See if he could make sense of it. After I pulled the fire alarm at 10:05, and slipped out the armory's basement window."

Kara's eyes narrowed. "Yeah," Danielle agreed. "Throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. My brilliant plan. Then, I get here 9:30 this morning, and here's Phil." Danielle gesture took in the whole alley. "Unloading his Hyundai." Kara's eyes widened. "He looked so ordinary…"

 _Danielle checked to make sure 'Betty' was easy to get to, from her spring jacket. And that Phil got no closer than 10 feet. No umbrella, of course. Ah well - time for the charm offensive._

" _Good morning. Phil, right?" Phil blinked, and recognized her instantly._

" _Sorry I was a nervous nellie, Friday," Danielle began. "I googled 'meditation headset' yesterday, and there does seem to be a lot of work going on."_

 _Phil nodded. "Oh, yes. Neurology is a very exciting field."_

 _A smirk crossed Danielle's lips. "You know, Phil, I don't get up early on a Sunday morning for the infomercials. I'd like to hear your take. How'd you get into all this?"_

 _Phil seemed to mull the enquiry over. Almost reluctantly, he popped open the trunk of his well-worn sedan. "I always carry some pamphlets by my neurology professor. His research really broke new ground." It didn't sound like papers being shuffled in there. More like buttons being pushed._

 _Danielle did a 180. "Actually, I'm meeting a friend for breakfast", she apologized, as she headed back towards the main drag. "Maybe this afternoon?"_

" _Newton", she just barely heard from him._

"A body at rest tends to stay at rest," Danielle muttered, as she gazed upon the tarp on the alley floor. Kara waited patiently, for the details.

"That idea. It was just there. Good enough for Sir Isaac, so good enough for me. That's what went through my head, as I lowered myself into a puddle." Kara sucked in a breath.

"He propped me up against the wall. Helped himself to my wallet and phone. Threw that tarp over me. Drove off. Even took 'Betty'. My baton." Looking down, Danielle caught a glimpse of Kara's fist.

"Just taking a breather, right? But somewhere, I knew - this didn't belong. I wanted to lash out. Curl up. And then, there was door #3. It was like…a football team invited themselves to my place, as a party was winding down. They expected to spend the night. Have breakfast. On my dime. Well, I could throw out the punter, the mascot. But all those other bruisers? No. I'd trash the place more than them. So, I'd play the good host. 'Thanks for coming. Let me show you around.' And they trickled in. One by one. 'I only show this one to my closest friends'." Danielle slowly pointed to her neck.

"My voice box."

 _Danielle whipped the tarp off. Bellowed. Bared her teeth. Trembled. Sobbed._

"What Phil did, it wasn't meant to last long. And how do I know that? My dad never taught me that trick. Maybe nobody could." Danielle turned to Kara.

"Heh. The little things about you. You don't notice them at first. After six months?" Danielle shrugged. "I thought you were a metahuman, Kara. And now? I'm kind of thinking I am."

She turned back to the tarp. "And how long would somebody else be under that tarp for? Someone who didn't have that trick up their sleeve?"

That was enough for Kara. She scowled, lifted her her eyeglasses, and glared at the tarp. A white heat formed around her eyes. And just as quickly faded away. Kara slowly put her glasses back on, and turned to her roommate. Danielle trembled slightly.

"I felt it. On my cheeks."

Kara looked aside, and sniffed. Then Danielle took her hand. Tried to look - on top of things.

"Things to do"…

The call went to voicemail. Dani had shut her phone off beforehand. At least Phil hadn't smashed it just yet.

"He could be 30 miles away, Dani," Kara explained. "What I hear is kind of a mess, from that far out."

Danielle grasped for straws. "Our neighbor, the hoopster. She takes Criminal Justice, right? Studies manhunts and all that."

"Oh, for pity's sake. Let's just go to the police. A plain old mugging. Leave out the football team in your head."

Danielle's eyes narrowed. "It's not my head I'm thinking of, right now. What if a cruiser pulls him over, and he drops Sir Isaac on them, too? Or…something else?"

She turned thoughtful. "Whatever else Phil is, he's a con artist. And I've known a few. How they operate. Plan ahead." Kara waited, as Danielle handed her a slightly damp yellow notepad.

"I made some calls. Found out what I could. Maybe even dug up a guy who deals with Phil." Danielle slowly pointed to Kara's head. "And what good does that do, if he finds a way - in there?"

It unnerved Kara. But something occurred to her, a moment later.

"You don't know that. I don't know that. But there is someone in town, this weekend, who may know that."

Danielle caught on, but seemed none too happy about it. She waved one hand, in a vaguely mystical manner. Kara nodded.

"Yeah," Danielle admitted. "I've heard those stories too."

"Zatanna gave her crew the day off," Kara clarified. "Needed some down time. I have her number. I'd rather hash this out in person - but it's your call."

No pressure, then. Danielle pointed to Kara. "You, I understand - a little." She pointed to her own head. "This, I understand - barely." She spread her fingers, in a display of showmanship. "Magic? I'm lost."

Kara shrugged. "No more than I am."

Danielle looked aside. Sighed. "All right. Go get Miss Magical Mystery Tour." She didn't turn to see Kara pocket the notebook, or place the umbrella in her hand.

"I won't be long."

Danielle turned back. "I'll be…"

The alley was empty. She gave a half smile, raised a finger, and did her best E.T. impersonation.

"…riiight heeere."


	10. Chapter 10

The rain petered out, so Danielle absent-mindedly folded up the umbrella. Then, her ears caught on - it was still coming down. Ten feet away. In every direction.

Just not on her.

She looked up. No giant umbrella. Just raindrops, diving out of her way.

She knew those footsteps. Kara approached, hair wet, looking a bit resigned. Her eyes looked past Danielle. "I've brought a friend."

No footsteps, this time. Danielle turned, in no great hurry. There stood the Mistress of Magic. The cone of dryness, or whatever, stretched out to her. She'd left the stage attire behind - just plain old slacks and a spring jacket. "Kara trusts you," she began in a matter-of-fact tone. She'd give Zatanna this much: it was a better intro than a warm smile just now…

National Allied. A lofty name for a modest business hugging an alley. Kara peered through brick and mortar, and let slip a small smile at their luck. "Nobody home. No alarm system. Windowless office in the back." The trifecta, as Danni would put it. Not that Kara would ever set foot in a racetrack. The subject of Danielle's cousin the horse trainer came up, once.

" _Does he treat his horses well?"_

" _I…don't go there."_

Danielle sat impatiently by a well-worn desk. The seldom opened file cabinets cast harsh shadows from the fluorescent bulb. Kara bent over her, staring past her skull, looking for damage. Images of brain hemispheres flickered from her phone. Zatanna sat opposite them, going over Danielle's notes. Kara stood up straight.

"Well, I don't see anything that looks like a hemorrhage. But then, I'm not a brain surgeon, am I?"

Danielle rolled her eyes, and got up to stretch.

"It may not matter much if you were."

That got their attention. They turned towards the magician.

"Danielle, what you did was brave. And **stupid**." Danielle looked aside, as Zatanna stood up.

"And brave." The girl returned her gaze. "This sort of thing…it can leave a mark that a CAT scan may not find." Zatanna produced a business card out of thin air, and slid it across the table to Danielle. "Though perhaps this fellow can." Danielle read the name, before sliding the card into her shirt pocket: Charles McNider, M.D.

Danielle unwittingly sniffed at the wet alley smell coming from her hair. Kara eyed Zatanna, and forged ahead.

"Danni, you got dragged into something lousy this weekend. And you came through. But you've hardly slept in two nights. Please - hit the showers, hit the sack, and let us take it from here."

Danielle picked up her notepad, and found what she was looking for. "Let me call this guy. He may have ties to Phil. I can bluff my way pretty good over the phone. I may even get a number for Phil out of him. I don't want to feel like a - footnote to all this." Zatanna shrugged. Danielle sat down, and picked up the receiver of a phone probably older than her…

They all stared at the number on the yellow pad. "Wow", Kara whispered. "Give me 90 seconds on the phone with Phil, and I can tell loads about where he is. All that background noise tells a story." Danielle seemed less impressed. "So you're playing the part of a new age, hippy chick customer. And that's what it'll sound like to him - playing a part. He'll get nervous, chuck the phone and get a new one. I know what to say. How to say it." Danielle then pointed to her own throat. "But I'm stuck with this. He'll know it's me, and hang up even faster." Zatanna, seemingly lost in thought, suddenly brightened up.

"Ladies - I do lure in people with the sound of my voice for a living".

Danielle bowed her head, and whispered, as the magician dialed Phil's supposed number: "Pick up. Pick up. Pick up."

Kara sat by Zatanna, her ear an inch away from the phone, eyes closed. Was she even breathing?

Zatanna's voice was as good as promised. A leisurely, refined murmur. It reminded Danielle of a Youtube video where Jacqueline Kennedy gives a tour of the White House. You didn't rush someone like that.

Kara gave the thumbs up sign. Zatanna wrapped things up with "Well, I'm sorry you can't make it to the festival, Mr. Ives. But thank you for your time."

Kara was almost smug. "Gaines Supermarket. Doing a little grocery shopping. Heard the name over the P.A. system."

Danielle saw the hitch in this plan. "Anything else? Aren't there, like, plenty in this state?"

"Umm…'Jones to the front desk'?"

Kara had glimpsed Phil in a group shot, on the Book of Face. It would do. Danielle watched her thumb fly down the screen, as she narrowed the Gaines stores down to four. How many phones Kara had killed doing that?

At least she still had her keys. She jangled them in her pocket. "Well, I'm gonna take your advice, Kara. Shower. Nap. Happy hunting, guys. Meet me at Jacob's Books later? They're open until 9. I'd go stir crazy at the dorm." She headed for the door.

"Danielle."

Right. Deity-like magical being with questions. Danielle turned towards 'Z'.

"You never said how you figured out…where Kara is from."

Danielle didn't look away. "Kara, would you mind if I not played that particular card right this very second?"

Kara walked up to her roommate, and locked eyes with Zatanna. "There's no hurry."

The magician gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Danielle breathed again.

Zatanna smiled.

Uh oh.

"Teews smaerd."

Kara's voice echoed from the bottom of a 100 foot well.

"Hey!"…


	11. Chapter 11

Danielle slowly opened her eyes. Even in the dim lighting, the outlines of the dorm room, the thin mattress, were familiar to her. No dramatic bolt upright in bed. She stretched like a cat, after a nap.

"Bitch", she mumbled. Hmm. Not neuralyzed just yet.

The light on her watch showed three hours had passed. The light switch showed the same clothes as before. What an incredible smell you've discovered.

So where is it?

Not in her shirt. Or pillow case. Or hair. No stains or smells. No reminders of alleys and puddles. Zatanna's doing. No - Kara's. So many favors. All for her.

She bent down to lace up her sneakers. Just going to wait for Kara and her new best friend at Jacob's. Get a paperback for the bus ride home next week. A bit of normality. Study for the climatology final on Wednesday?

No, didn't think so.

Her hand was on the doorknob, when she noticed their desk. A phone rested on it. Not Kara's, and not her's. A note lay beside it.

'Danni, please don't take it personally (jerk move, I know). We'll meet you at Jacob's. Or I will. Or I'll call, if 9PM comes and goes. Which I doubt. 'Phil' is toast. You would have thrown that tarp off, metahuman or not. I'm proud of you. Love, Kara.'

Some flying, bullet-proof, god-like being from another world was proud of her. And so deserving of it, too.

She dropped the note. Leaned back against the wall. And wept.

The words slowly faded from the page, as the sheet glided to the floor…

Kara walked into Jacob's, 10 minutes before closing. No other customer but Danni. Tucked in a corner somewhere, but she knew that breathing. She faced out the window, and shut her eyes. X-rayed this. Telescoped that. So that's what eye strain feels like. She could indulge for 20 seconds. A hint of a grin. At least they caught the guy.

Danni sucked in a breath. Huh? Kara slowly turned. Plain old visible light showed only bookshelves. Then Danielle stepped out, from the other side of the store. A sheepish grin on her face.

Gods. She didn't hear me. Couldn't have.

They met halfway, and hugged.

Danielle's voice was muffled by Kara's jacket. "I knew you could do it."

Kara had only one response.

"Didn't know you could do that."

Danielle slipped Dr. McNider's card into her wallet, outside Jacob's. Debit card, student ID, and $14 in cash were accounted for. Rain bounced off the canopy. Umbrella was back at room 524, of course.

"I don't need the play-by-play."

"Guess not."

Danielle just looked at Kara, who cleared her throat. "Sorry."

"I'm not a mind-reader, genius." Danielle turned thoughtful. "What I felt from you, it seemed normal. No different than reading someone's body language, or expression. Details? Mmm." She shrugged.

"Good enough for me," Kara said.

"Zatanna's waiting." She wasn't asking a question. Her roommate nodded. Danielle gestured, as if to say, 'Lead the way."

A wicked grin came over Danielle slowly, as they made their way through the rain. She channeled Woody Guthrie, and started on his famous Dust Bowl song:

"So long, it's been good to know yuh".

Kara rolled her eyes. Danielle made big puppy dog eyes until she finally joined in.

"So long, it's been good to know yuh;

So long, it's been good to know yuh;

This dusty old dust is a-gettin' my home,

And I got to be driftin' along."

Easier on the pipes than "I Dreamed A Dream", at least.

Kara turned to her. "However far it goes, Danni, it's all you. Nobody sold it to you. Forced it upon you. And nobody can take it from you. Not even Z."

Danielle didn't look impressed. "It may not be much. I'm guessing you could…what, learn Slovenian in a week? Maybe what you feel is that much bigger, too. Hard to miss a spotlight." Kara said nothing.

Danielle adopted a mock, chipper tone. "At least there's 1.3 million metahumans out there. Or so the web claims. I can always find someone for advice. There's only two of…"

Danielle winced. She couldn't look at her. "Oh, God. I am so sorry, Kara." No response. She snuck a peek. No tension in the air this time. Instead it was like - wheels turning inside Kara's head. She smiled, and turned to Danielle.

"It's all right. I have an idea. But one thing at a time." She produced a phone from her pocket. Danielle recognized it at once.

"Wha - why didn't he chuck it against a wall or something?"

Kara cleared her throat…

Zatanna drummed her fingers on the dashboard of the Hyundai. Phil, good as promised, was still in the back seat. Guess she doesn't get stuck in traffic much. She rolled the window down, as Danielle strolled up.

"I slept great. Thanks for asking."

That's it. Danni. Be a smart ass to the end.

Danielle stepped down to Phil, as Z rolled down his window in turn.

"I'm all ears."

Good thing those ears weren't listening a few hours ago, at the hotel:

" _Some 19 year old girl…"_

" _She's my friend. She trusts me."_

" _Some 19 year old girl. Some weather buff. Is walking around with knowledge in her head that people, crime syndicates,_ _ **galactic overlords**_ _would kill for. So please, Kara. Please explain to me why she shouldn't wake up in her own bed. Ten days from now. Look forward to a summer job. Concerts. Hikes. And forget you ever existed at all."_


	12. Chapter 12

The rain bounced off the car roof, and Danielle's cap, as she gazed upon Phil in the back of his Hyundai.

"I'm all ears."

Zatanna mumbled something indistinct from the driver's seat, and a cone of dryness fell upon Danielle again. She turned to look back to Kara, who had her own rain-free zone. Kara shrugged. Danielle nodded.

"Some friends you've got."

Danielle turned back to meditation headset peddler.

"Friend. Singular. And I'm guessing you didn't ask me here to talk about them."

Phil's expression seemed to say, 'We're not at the health fair anymore.'

"Started in high school."

She didn't roll her eyes. Close, though.

"What I felt in others, I thought I could use to help others. But it was just a hint. Nothing more. By college, it seemed to have flattened out." He paused.

"Not sure how, but my psychology professor caught on. Guess you pick up a lot, interning at Arkham." The name meant nothing to Danielle. But she'd swear that 'Z' had tensed up, somehow.

"He said that I had a gift. And there was no shame in asking for a little help." Danielle's eyes slowly widened.

"The 'Prof' made everything seem so normal. Hard time connecting to others emotionally? I just had some deficiency. Like anemia."

Danielle shuddered. She'd given blood before, and suspected where this was going. She held up her hand. "Hey Renfield, you can give the details to the nice magician behind the wheel. That was the deal."

Phil nodded. "I'll stick to the big picture, then. Be careful, Danielle." No smart-ass retort this time.

"What you feel in others, you can manipulate in others", he added.

No kidding. Not that that business with Kara was any of his. "Yeah, I read the wikipedia page on empaths. Couple of years ago."

"I didn't just mean your mental health, moral compass, whatnot. Your - **friends** can shut down the Prof and his gang." Danielle ignored that.

"But there's always powerful people out there. Who don't put much thought into what they do. Why should they? Their gut tells them so. So who tells their gut what to do?"

Ah. Pulling the strings. Always a market for that one.

"I was scooping up credit card numbers. The minors, really. But I got a glimpse of the show. They'd love to have you. And you didn't even need a helping hand."

Danielle leaned in, until her nose was six inches away from Phil's. "Only from you."

Phil nodded slowly. "Be careful, Danielle."

She turned and walked away, but stopped after three steps.

"You wanted to be caught, didn't you?" No reply.

Danielle sighed, and indulged in an eye roll. She fished through her wallet.

"My magical powers of prophecy inform me that your professor will pin all this on you." Kara smiled at that one.

"You'll need a good lawyer. My family's been through a lot of them." Kara blinked at that one. Danielle found the card she was looking for. "This one's the best."

She stopped in mid turn. Can't leave it half done. She took her time, pulling out the 2nd card.

"Ann Marie has an open mind. I'm sure she could wrap her brains around your…condition. Not right away, though." Danielle placed Dr. McNider's card alongside the attorney's, and handed both to Phil.

"But this fellow might. Put her in touch with this doctor. And don't mention my name to her." Phil nodded.

"Really. Don't." He got the idea.

Zatanna asked her questions inside the car. Danielle couldn't hear. Kara chose not to. She finally broke the silence.

"You're not him, Danni."

Danielle studied her damp sneakers. "Easy to take a talent and waste it, Kara."

Yes. It is.

Danielle looked up, at the sound of the car door opening. She sucked in a breath, as legs in fishnet stockings swung out…

"Your name will be kept out of the records, Danielle." Zatanna stood in the corner of the dorm room, having had enough of the hard chair for one evening. "The police will handle the identity theft business. Other crimes will be handled…other ways. You don't miss much. Ever thought of switching to criminal justice?"

"Thanks, but I went to college to learn something **new**."

Not her best. Oh well. That's all, folks.

"Right," Danielle began. "What was that thing, Ben Johnson said? Something about, 'the hangman's noose concentrates the mind'."

Samuel Johnson, thought Kara. She let it pass.

"Close enough"…

 _Danielle bellowed as she threw the tarp off in the alley. Bared her teeth. Trembled. Sobbed. Shut her eyes. Focused._

 _Kara_

 _Find Kara_

 _She can figure this out_

 _She can figure out anything_

 _She can do anyth-_

 _Anything_


	13. Chapter 13

Oh, well. Time to explain the big revelation. Let the cliches begin.

"You know that Beatles song, 'A Day In the Life'?", Danielle asked. Zatanna stood in the corner, Kara in the middle of the dorm room. They both nodded.

"A mad tide of strings near the end. Pianos get pounded into submission."

"Yeah, it was kind of like that"…

 _Danielle stared ahead, slumped against the brick wall, rain dripping down her neck._

" _Krypton", she whispered._

 _And laughed. Heaved with laughter. Until she whacked the back of her head against the wall._

" _Oof. Ohh - get up, idiot. Things to do."_

 _The clerk at Donny Press was morbidly hypnotized by the wet, filthy girl walking up to the counter._

" _Bit of a tumble," she said in her sweetest, most reasonable voice. "May I use your telephone, please?"…_

Heh. The biggest Penn & Teller fan on campus. Terrified of the real thing.

Hmm. Two god-like beings arguing over the fate of some college freshman. Nothing better to do?

And now I've got to stand up and make my case. Please let Kara be a metahuman to me. Just like three days ago.

For what?

I'll never get to ask Kara what color the sky was on Krypton.

Maybe she doesn't want to go there, genius.

"Look at me."

Ah. Must have tuned out. That forceful side to Kara. Must always be there. Somewhere.

"Z was listening to Brian Eno, when I rapped on her window. No more quiet Sunday afternoon. Five minutes in, she thought you were a stressed out mugging victim. Five minutes after that, she pictured you running through traffic, yelling about aliens, like in 'Body Snatchers'. She could have zapped you there in a breath. Poked through your mind in a breath. I said to give you a little time, a little space. She's glad she did. She's glad for your help. She'll feel lousy about it. But she'll wipe those memory banks of yours all the same, Danni. For three words." Kara paused for a breath.

"You want to remember me? At all? Tell Zatanna…I don't know. About rooming with a metahuman. Something. Anything. I can't do it for you."

Kara stared at the floor. Winced.

"I…can't be Kara of Krypton to you. Not now. That shouldn't be something I'm born into. I have to earn it." Kara looked at Danielle, a mock smile on her face.

"And what would that be? Putting out a campfire? Fixing a leaky pipe?"

The Moaning Myrtleness of it all got to Danielle. She hopped off the bed, and into Kara's face.

"You called an ambulance for that girl at the party. Sasha? She was headed for a coma, from all the Grey Goose in her."

"You'd have done the same thing."

"I wasn't there. But I'll give you the play-by-play, from someone who was." Kara tensed up, as Danielle did a breathless, up-talking take on a neighbor of theirs.

"'Kara looked her over, top to bottom. It was like…the Terminator? Scanning the police station? Only, without the bullets flying and bodies piling up'."

The whole scene came back to Kara. She turned to the magician.

"Oops", she summed up. Zatanna said nothing, then looked to Danielle.

"You're careful, Kara," Danielle began. "But not careful enough."

" _Danni, could you swing by 527?", Jen began. "Like to run a new tune by you."_

" _Kara has a better ear for that than I do."_

" _Don't feel like hashing out timbre and tempo just yet. She'll be back Sunday. Just wanted to see how it makes you feel, without all the jargon."_

" _So I'm the great unwashed, huh? Why not?"_

 _Jen invited Danielle in. There stood her roommate. 'Eponine'. The up-talker. And the guitar still in its case. Jen closed the door._

" _Kara Danvers."_

 _Uh oh._

 _The things Kara could see. Hear. Recall._ _ **Do.**_ _Each of the four had a story to tell. Any light Danielle could shed on this?_

 _At least she's got an Alison Krauss poster. Taylor Swift would send me screaming._

 _Danielle shut her eyes._

" _I don't know how far it goes. How far_ _she_ _goes. I don't want to, either." She rolled her eyes at that one._

" _Yeah, that's a complete and utter lie. I'd love to know. How about we call our moms and dads for advice?" Her eyes narrowed._

" _I'm sure none of them would call 9-1-1 or TMZ, about the metahuman on campus. 'Cuz nothing says 'I'm there for you' like ten campus police knocking on the door, saying the chancellor would like a word."_

 _They shuffled. She sniffed. "Yeah, I could've handled it all…better. But I know this. Kara wouldn't tell herself, 'I'm the smartest person in the room'. Even if she is." Cue nervous laughter._

"' _Only a step away from 'I know what's…best'." And I know this how?_

" _She wants to do something - good. She's still figuring things out. Gifts or not. So please, just leave it be."_

 _The four looked at each other. At Danielle. Jen nodded, and rolled her eyes._

" _Just call us Dumbledore's Army, then."_

 _The room rocked with laughter._

Kara teared up. Four people she didn't know all that well. Looking out for her.

"Yeah, about that," Danielle began. "I told myself I'd keep their names out of the mix."

Oh. Gods. No.

Danielle choked up. "And I realized…just now…that you probably…have ways…"

Kara turned towards Zatanna. Cold fury there.

Zatanna weighed her words. "No, Danielle. You're mind is not an open book to me. But I find that some people leave a strong impression on others. It cuts through the static. I…met one of the four, yes. After the show Friday night."

Kara sucked in a breath.

"I signed her program. Posed for a picture. Kara took it."

Kara stared at the wall, and whispered:

"Eponine".


	14. Chapter 14

Before she had poured her first cup of tea, Zatanna offered some privacy for the three of them. Anyone looking in on room 524 would see the place as dark and quiet.

"What, like Maxwell Smart's 'cone of silence'?", Kara chipped in.

Danielle sighed. Lame jokes when you're nervous. A concept found throughout the universe?

"Are we gonna be locked in here, Zatanna?"

"It won't be locked to you, Danielle."

As if there's anywhere I can go. At least she asked this time.

It was fun, at first. Raising up the shades, and nobody below would see a thing. But the pavement was deserted, and there were things to do. Within minutes the shades lay up there, forgotten…

Zatanna gazed out the window, into the damp night. The rain had tapered off, at last. Danielle and Kara avoided looking at each other. It was a relief to face her, as the magician approached them.

"You were lucky to have her for a roommate," she said to Kara. "The four of them for neighbors. And luck always runs out, Kara." A nod in reply.

'Z' stepped towards Danielle. The freshman stood ramrod straight for the first and last time.

"You got dropped into something, Danielle. Twice. It wasn't your fault. Nobody trained you in…" Zatanna shrugged. "This. And you…" A rueful smile crossed her face. "You did well."

The kind words only stoked Danielle's furnace. "You know who else **Did. Well.** " Venom dripped from her voice.

"Four people who saw something strange in a girl. Didn't freak. Asked questions. Got an answer. Or two. And left it there. 'Oh, she's a metahuman'."

Danielle turned to Kara, who offered up a regretful smile of her own. "Cool.".

"That may be," Zatanna acknowledged. "And I don't see you, or them, blurting out Kara's…gifts, at an office party." A pause.

"But some see all metahumans as a threat. Think that privacy doesn't apply to them. It's a long road ahead, Danielle. And lots of ways any of the four could…" A satisfied air.

"Let something slip"

Touche.

Danielle opened her mouth, when she felt hands on her waist gently pick her up. "Mind if I cut in?", Kara asked breezily, as she planted her by the door.

Hmm. Wonder how many bruises Alex took to get that right.

"Let's thaw out a bit, shall we?", said Kara to them both.

Kara went to Danielle first. "We got them into this fix. We will get them out of it. I can point you in the right direction. But you're the one who has to tell their story."

Danielle couldn't believe this. "Wha-? What do I tell Miss One-With-Creation that will impress her? You're the genius from some galactic civilization."

Kara almost seemed amused. "For all the good that did."

They avoided each other's gaze. Not for long.

"I kept people at arm's length, Danni. Since my first day here. Every conversation felt like a minefield. The four of them? I can't see this through their eyes. You can."

Simple, right?.

"As for Zatanna, she's not looking to be impressed." Kara leaned in. "She's looking for what you know."

As Kara stepped towards Zatanna, Danielle silently mouthed the words to herself: what you know.

"Z, I don't know if it's luck, or fate, that lets us do what we can do. But I will not believe our first duty is to be plumbers. Fixing leaks." Danielle watched, with an air of calm about her Kara had never seen before.

"We should be more than that."

They observed Danielle bending over her bedside table. She took out a picture from her wallet. Smiled. Put it back. And stood before Zatanna.

"They looked me in the eye. Said…

" _Not a word."_

"Each one. Why is that not good enough for you?"

Zatanna put on her best poker face. "It's not in our nature, Danielle. To leave things be. Any one of them could figure out what you did. And Kara has enough things to worry about, as is."

Danielle caught a glimpse of the frosty look Kara gave the magician.

"That wasn't my choice," Danielle said simply. "Just like sitting in a puddle wasn't my choice. I was flailing around, because my choices weren't my own." A look, almost of sympathy, came over her.

"They will know, Zatanna. Because even you can't cover every angle. See every possibility. Life's too random for that. They will know that something's been taken away. It'll gnaw at them. More than Kara's bag of tricks ever could."

Danielle leaned forward, dangerously close. "Because you left them knowing just enough to be dangerous."

Danielle seemed spent. She sat on her bed. Kara stood close by, but gave her space.

"Heh", Zatanna said almost inaudibly. They both turned to her.

"Kara, tell Danielle about 'Eponine' Friday night. Uh, Cathi, I mean."

 _Kara and Cathi went over the picture on her digital camera. The famous magician seemed at ease with the zoology major. Kara had politely declined to pose for one herself._

" _So, Kara, I hear you won't be back in September."_

" _That's right."_

" _Any big plans?"_

" _Oh, I've always loved stories of scientists, explorers. Thought I could tell a few of those stories myself. Some travel-science blog ."_

" _That's awesome! And I'm sure every reader will chip in $5 a month to show their support."_

" _Ha ha. It's not saving the world or anything, Ep. Just want to learn to be a good writer."_

 _Cathi, aka Eponine, gave her a steady gaze._

" _You will."_

 _Kara wondered if she missed something, as the girl turned and walked into the night._

The look on Zatanna's face was hard to read. Resigned? Relieved? Both? Either way, it reminded Danielle of Prospero's line in 'The Tempest':

Our revels now are ended.

Of course she'd had to slog through three damned Henry the Sixth plays on the way to that one.

The three faced each other, in the middle of the compact door room.

"Friends, that you can rely on, don't come along every day," Zatanna said.

The roommates glanced at each other, then back to their guest.

"Kara Danvers. Metahuman. To them."

To Danielle.

"And to you."


	15. Chapter 15

Danielle almost didn't dare breathe. Her lungs had the final say. She and Kara glanced at each other. It worked?

"Ahem."

Right. She faced the 'Mistress of Magic'.

"Ground rules," Zatanna began. Danielle nodded.

"Phil was an identity thief, and a quack. Nothing more." A nod.

"You and Kara figured him out by yourselves. The Sheriff's Department has witnesses enough, without you." Another nod.

"A nice vendor at the fair noticed Saturday how you were stressed out. She recommended seeing this guy." Dr. McNider's business card materialized in Zatanna's hand. "And please, don't give this one to the first needy soul you come across." Danielle smirked as she slid the card in her wallet.

"Zatanna put on a good show Friday night for Kara and Cathi. Nothing more."

No nod this time. Danielle's eyes were searching for something.

"That's it? Nothing else?"

"Such as?", Zatanna asked innocently.

"I was pulling Kara's strings for two months! You're not bothered by that?"

"You sold her on a bad idea. After you sold it to yourself. A mistake. Nothing more."

Danielle would have preferred a dressing down to this. She could almost hear Kara's smile forming beside her.

"But…I got Daughter of Krypton here to do my bidding!" A full-on snort this time. Danielle glared at Kara, and got a half-hearted "sorry" in reply.

"What if…I got her to hack into the Federal Reserve?"

"You didn't", Kara sensibly pointed out.

Danielle turned from one to the other, and back again. "What if I do the same thing to somebody else?"

"Why, are you planning to?", Zatanna deadpanned.

"What if…?"

No breezy reply from the magician this time. "Danielle, you can take what you find in yourself. And if it harms none…do what you will."

Kara's eyes shone, as she looked at Zatanna. Danielle mulled it over, and slowly thumbed towards the door.

"No one's gonna hear through that veil thingie, right?" Zatanna shook her head. Kara and Danielle stared at one another. Screamed. And rushed to each other.

Kara picked her up and twirled her around. Danielle roared with laughter, her head inches from the ceiling. 'Z' waited for the ringing in her ears to subside. It didn't take long. Kara quietly lowered Danielle down.

Kara seemed uncertain where to go from here. But a mischievous look came across Danielle's face, and she launched into a snippet from their favorite musical.

"Glad to do a friend a favor

Doesn't cost me to be nice"

Kara caught on, and gladly joined in.

"But nothing gets you nothing

Everything has got a little price."

Delaying the inevitable. Danielle had another matter to attend to, first.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment," she said to them both. "From all the water and tea, I have to pee like a racehorse." Kara snorted again.

"I'm sure you won't lose your way," Zatanna said with eerie calm.

Danielle held a steady gaze. "I'll do my best," and stepped out.

Kara and Zatanna eyed each other. No regrets. No high-fives, either. The magician checked her watch.

"5:30 wake up call tomorrow." Kara smiled, and kissed her on the cheek…

Kara and Danielle didn't know how to wrap it up. Kara adjusted her glasses, and realized she'd forgotten about them. Rolling her eyes, she placed them on the desk.

Danielle's cue. She covered her mouth, and did her best Darth Vader heavy breathing. "Just for once…let me look on you with my own eyes."

One advantage of perfect recall? Snappy comebacks.

"Good one, Counsellor Troi."

They kept straight faces for a moment, before cracking up. The levity quickly faded from Danielle, though. Her head sunk.

"It's not fair. What happened to you."

A moment passed, and she felt Kara take her hand. She looked up.

"My - mother." Danielle's eyes widened. "Said that Earth would give us a second chance. My cousin, and I."

Danielle wondered, for a split-second, who it could be. "Your cous-" She sucked in a breath, put her hand to her mouth, and shook with laughter. Kara almost seemed to glow.

"That's some family you've got, Kara", Danielle whispered, wiping away a tear.

"Yes, both of them."

"So, it's all part of the plan, right? Lay low, learn what you can, then spring into…" Danielle trailed off.

Kara seemed thoughtful, gave a rueful smile, and shook her head. "There is no plan. Not anymore. And I'll give my cousin this: he never tried to steer me into one."

Danielle caught a glimpse of the 'Z'. It seemed this was news to her as well.

"Growing up, Danni, I heard about these…beings. Cold. Powerful. Always wanting more. They would see this world as just another conquest. Just another plaything." As tense as Danielle was, something about all this seemed familiar.

A machine. That sucks up data. And gives nothing back.

"I would die, before I see that happen," Kara stated simply.

Yes. You would.

Kara held her hands up before her, as if examining them. "But it's these that have to do the work. I've never even put out a house fire. So how do I protect people from Death, the Destroyer of Worlds?" Almost to herself: "I've no idea."

"Good."

Kara and Zatanna were struck dumb. Danielle leaned in, a hard look on her face.

"You should feel that way. If you had everything figured out. If you could take whatever the universe throws at you…" A grin overcame Danielle. "I'd scream and run for the exit!"

The roommates let loose all their nervous energy, in a burst of laughter. Zatanna let slip a little smile. Things settled down.

"Those _beings,_ Kara, will take what you fear, what you doubt, and turn it against you. Like any tin-pot dictator who keeps his people 'safe'. Like any grifter who calls an old pensioner, saying he's with the IRS. It's what they do."

Brainiac and Darkseid. Small time crooks. Have to tell **that** to them someday.

"Your fears, your doubts. Know them. Make them yours. And shove them back in their faces." Danielle eased up on the gas pedal a bit. "Uh, they do have faces, right?" Kara eyed her wryly.

Danielle stepped back. "Get out there, Kara. Meet people. Hear their stories. And make your own. Just remember…" Her voice cracked. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Miss geek from outer space…", Danielle soldiered on. Kara's eyes welled up.

"You're not…in this…" They hugged. Danielle as tight as she could. Kara, as tight as she dared.

'Z' studied the floor.

They finally unclenched. Kissed. Took turns blowing their noses from the one box of kleenex. And turned to Zatanna, who snapped her fingers. Danielle flinched.

"Forgot," the magician said softly.

" **GOD DAMMIT, Z!** ", Danielle exploded. Kara's eyes were like saucers. "I thought that was it! You and I are not finished. Not just yet."

Zatanna nodded. "I'm sorry, Danielle. Go ahead." Danielle sighed, and gestured to the top hat suddenly lying on her bed.

"I'm sure the hat means something. You first." Kara rolled her eyes at the way the evening was winding down.

Zatanna reached into the hat, and pulled out Danielle's baton.

"Oh, jeez. Betty." Danielle waved her hand. "Ah, keep it. For when you get laryngitis."

Kara smirked. Zatanna thanked Danielle. Dropped 'Betty' into her hat. And waited.

"Since I did my part in the 'War on Crime' this today, I think that deserves a small favor. Or two. Even if I won't remember."

Kara nervously eyed them both, but Zatanna seemed impressed by the girl's brass. "Go on."

Danielle fished a wallet-sized photo out of her pocket, and handed it to Zatanna. "My brother, Christopher. Sixteen," she began.

"Thinks he can make a living playing cards." 'Z' held the photo up for Kara to see.

"He can whip Dad at poker. But I see Chris beating the wrong guy, and getting a thumb broken. Or rooking tourists at three-card monte. Could you - recommend someone to teach him card tricks? He likes close-up magic, too."

Zatanna nodded, and another business card appeared in her fingers. "I know a guy. He and his partner owe me one."

Danielle smiled, as she slid yet another card in her wallet. "From the same nice vendor at the fair?"

"If you wish."

A sheepish look came over Danielle. "Zatanna, can you…could you…would you…"

An almost inaudible murmur.

"Levitate me?"

Zatanna didn't look impressed. Words flowed like water out of Danielle.

"Six inches? Ten seconds? I saw it on my 5th birthday, and I never forgot it. Hale-Bopp was floating in the sky. You were floating over the stage."

The two shared a private moment, while Kara crunched the numbers. The Great Comet of 1997? "Z, what were you, fifteen? You were headlining back then?"

"No, but Giovanni Zatara was."

Gods. Her father. Last tour. Good one, Kara.

Zatanna gestured towards the wallet. "I don't suppose you have a ticket stub in there, somewhere?"

Danielle shrugged. "Sorry."

The magician stretched out her hand. Danielle nodded. Kara smiled.

The air beneath you're feet. You'll feel it. One of these days. Didn't think Danni would beat me to it.

"Elleinad. Etativel."

A beat. A _breath_. _A joyous screech…_

"Danielle Moran?"

Kara blinked.

"Yes, you did say you spoke to my references, didn't you?"

Donna plucked an envelope from her folder, and slid it across the table. Kara looked puzzled. "Please," Donna said, gesturing towards it.

It was postmarked Boston, MA. Kara found inside a hand-written note, on official American Meteorological Society stationery:

Ms. Moran,

I was surprised to get your call Tue about Kara. I realize now I didn't explain myself well. I hope you'll put up with this little footnote. I'll be brief.

When we were roommates my freshman year, I pitched an idea to Kara about collecting weather data. I didn't think it through. It wasted a great deal of time and effort (mostly her's). And it strained our relationship.

Most people would have washed their hands of me for that. Well, Kara Danvers is not most people.

I trust Kara. And I hope you will as well.

All the best to you and Catco,

Danielle Moran

Jamaica Plain, MA

p.s. I realize Kara may look like a college dropout turned full-time hitch-hiker. I politely ask you to consider how many hitch-hikers learn Slovenian.

Kara read the note 5 times in 15 seconds, before handing it back to Donna. She sniffed.

Donna smiled. "So, your friend gives the seal of approval to my TV weatherman now, huh?"

"Oh, there's more to her than that."


	16. Chapter 16

Donna ruefully checked her watch.

"I cleared space on my calendar for today. But a certain young applicant couldn't wait until tomorrow. Oh, I'm sure he could. But his uncle is el grande jefe of National City. So I'll be here, waiting for him, at 4PM sharp. Or dear uncle will have Ms. Grant ship me to our field office in Alaska. Supposedly."

Kara tread carefully. _Does_ Catco have a field office in Alaska?"

Donna gave a chipper smile. "They will when I get there."

Kara relaxed at that one. The little twerp had no idea what he was in for. Donna picked out a list of names and dates, from the organized chaos on her desk.

"'Blogger Kara Danvers. Spanning the globe. Alias: 'Herschel C.' I'll mention the place. You say what comes to mind. Doesn't have to be work related. Just be yourself. And brief. The memoir can come later." Kara nodded.

"El Observatorio Astronomico Nacional, in Baja."

Kara dusted off the memory banks. "Two damp nights in a row. Don't see that often in that part of Mexico. Lots of Cafe de olla, with piloncillo. Traded stories. Loved hearing about Shoemaker-Levy hitting Jupiter in '94. It was almost like, Jupiter took one on the chin for us."

 _Kara looked up through the drizzle, admiringly, at the gas giant. One of the astronomers, on a smoke break, was puzzled. Kara quickly went back to her coffee._

Kara snapped her fingers. "Forgot. Mario. His sister was off to see U2 with a friend. Estadio Azteca. Friend got sick, and suddenly she had an extra ticket. Just had to find my way to Mexico City in a day and a half." Kara smiled at the recollection. Then she noticed Donna's eyes narrowing.

"Traffic was a breeze, hmm?"

Kara paused. And shrugged. "I took the back roads."

 _Kara caught the last ferry out of La Paz. Hoofed it for three hours, as the sun took it's sweet time setting. Finally found a secluded spot, as dusk fell. Off came the boots. Out came the laptop. She cradled it gently. "I'll go easy on you," she promised. And did her Road Runner thing._

Next item: "Machu Picchu."

Kara tilted her head, and knew which angle to take. "The Spanish roamed up and down Peru. Looking for anything they could pick clean. And missed this Inca citadel, hiding in plain sight. So did everyone else. For 400 years." She beamed. "Except for the local farmers. And they kept it to themselves."

 _Kara sketched the llama, which posed like a pro. The stone walls could wait. Thank gods for dry mountain air. The moisture in the Amazon had curled up the drawing paper, froze up the camera, and almost the laptop as well. That gorgeous red, yellow and blue macaw? Only a memory._

Donna turned thoughtful. "Growing up in Sonora, I wanted to see Machu Picchu. But who had the money? Now I have the money…" She shrugged. "But who has the time?"

The look on Donna's face? Not embarrassed. More like…moving on.

"Galapagos."

Kara was happy to do so. "Iguanas. From Ecuador and such. Washed out into the Pacific. Clinging to branches. Drifting in the void. And washing up on a whole new land. A new home." She could feel Donna getting ready to pop the whole 'miracle of life' balloon.

"Umm, not to anthropomorphize or anything. Nothing miraculous. A few made it. Most…didn't."

Donna slightly nodded. "You're right. It's not a miracle. A miracle is something you can't explain. But that _is_ amazing."

Kara basked in the life-finds-a-way, 'Cosmos'-ish wonder of it all. A connection! Then Donna produced a photo printout. Kara, in uniform as a National Park Service interpreter. Standing in the middle of an empty road. Admiring a slow, smoldering lava flow. From 20 feet away.

"So, what? Hawaii wasn't hot enough for you? Never took you for reckless, Kara."

 _Kara unlaced her boots, inside the park HQ locker room. Something felt off about them. Oh. The soles here half melted._

Kara raised a finger, in mild protest. "I should point out that that lava wasn't fresh out of the oven."

"You're the expert." Donna double checked her notes. "Ten months on the Big Island. Most time you ever spent in one place. Any reason?"

 _Once a week, Kara would slip unseen into the park in the pre-dawn hours. Find a quiet spot. And gaze deep inside Kilauea. Or Mauna Loa. The rumblings of the planet had given birth to islands. Life itself, if you looked at the big picture. And what it could give, it could take away…_

Donna almost smirked. "Besides the eight or ten reasons I can think of for living in Hawaii?"

 _Kara practiced chest compressions on her training manikin. She knew her instructor, sort of. Eddie's sister volunteered with her at Volcanoes National Park. And he was a lifeguard on her beach. A tourist had suffered a heart attack, on dry land, a week earlier. Eddie had applied CPR, until the EMT's arrived. She approached him, after the end of his shift that day._

" _That was…awesome. Can you teach me that? I flunked my first CPR class. They said I cracked a rib half the time."_

 _Eddie smiled. "I think I can fit you in before the surfing trials."_

Kara seemed wistful. "I learned a lot there."

 _Eddie finished sixth, out of 30 competitors, at Honoli'i Beach. And gashed his foot on a reef for his trouble. Kara offered her arm for support, as he made his way gingerly to the parking lot. She examined the certificate they gave him. No invite to the Pro-Am on Oahu's North Shore this time. She pumped her fist._

" _We're Number Six! We're Number Six!"_

Kara knew what was coming.

 _Eddie and Kara admired Waianuenue (Rainbow Falls), in the state park near Hilo. She caught that look, out of the corner of her eye._

"So why bid 'Aloha' to all that?"

 _The director of the park was a patient fellow. "Um, Miss Danvers…I've read your statement three times. I'm still not certain how you found that hiker. Passed out from fumes. As it was getting dark."_

 _Kara's face was the epitome of blandness. "What I saw, what I did, is in that report, sir."_

 _He slowly nodded. "So it is. Miss Danvers. Kara. Everyone here knows they can rely upon you. Long before that knucklehead figured the rules of the park were just a suggestion."_

" _Now sir", she mildly objected. "He's a 15 year old from Kyoto, with maybe 10 words of English."_

" _Maybe so. Anyway…I'm recommending you be hired permanently. That's a no-brainer." He chuckled. "And that you be honored in a public ceremony, for dedication to the Park Service. The safety of our visitors is the highest…"_

 _The look on her face. He may as well have said, "I'm recommending you lead the troops through that minefield tomorrow. Good luck, soldier."_

Kara cleared her throat.

 _Eddie treated Kara to a Mai Tai on her 21st 'birthday'. As she savored the rum, pineapple and lemon juice, he began with…_

" _So. Heard you turned down the ticker tape parade for saving young Shinji. That's cool."_

 _Kara slowly lowered her glass to the bar counter. "Don't see the need. It's just my job."_

 _Eddie shrugged. Kara had seen him relaxed. Heard it in his breath. Seen it in his posture. This wasn't it._

" _This ain't Honolulu, Kara. Someone always asks about a new face. Hilo's the same as any other small town."_

 _Kara looked up from her half-empty glass, playing casual. "What's up?"_

" _I want to know you. You put a lot into your stories, of where you've been. But 'I grew up in Midvale' doesn't say anything, Kara." Eddie marched on._

" _Heh. You…you sleep in a tent, or you housesit in some cottage your mother's friend owns. The only water's from a well. You come here to the Mai lounge for the Wi-Fi. Yesterday…I heard you speaking into your headset. Some tech jargon not in my wheelhouse. And '450K'." He looked at her. "Do I wanna know?"_

 _Kara looked aside. Slowly exhaled. Turned back to Eddie. "If I may?" He nodded._

" _College didn't work out. Told my mother Eliza I wanted to see a bit of this world, before getting a real job. She gave me a laptop, and some money. Said I'd pay her back. Well, one night at a telescope in Baja, I chatted up this chemistry student who talked his way in. Something he always wanted to do", Kara shrugged._

" _Had this idea about a new chemical formula for rocket fuel. Cut down the weight. Cut down the cost. Away we go. On paper…it looked spot on. His crew just couldn't find an applied research lab they could afford. I called someone at the Planetary Society. Asked if he could recommend a good, cheap lab."_

 _Eddie's eyes narrowed. "Bill Nye, the Science Guy?"_

 _Kara smiled. "Love to meet him. But no. Anyhow, the funding ran a bit short for the lab rental. So I…chipped in."_

 _His eyes widened. "And how much of your mother's hard-earned money did you give these guys?"_

 _Kara grinned at the absurdity of it all. "Not all of it. Just most."_

 _Eddie almost took it personally. "So, you go to college for a year, and you have everything figured out?"_

 _Kara took the matter-of-fact approach. "No. But the experiment worked. And the next one. A start-up was launched. I was given 4% ownership, for my help. And now my share is kind of, sort of, on paper, worth $450,000."_

 _Kara noticed the 'I don't buy it' look on his face. She adopted a mock, breezy tone. "So I tend not to talk about money. Long, drawn-out stories that don't do much to persuade. Like a lot of stuff about me, I guess." Her face fell. So did Eddie's. Then, a half-smile._

" _People have come here for 200 years Kara, looking for something. Souls to save. Fields to plant. Guess you're not here looking for money. Seems you found that already." She raised her eyebrows._

 _He seemed to relax. "Hey, it's not like I thought you were a drug smuggler or something." His heartbeat said otherwise._

 _A little trick Alex came up with. It started out with, of course…_

" _I can fly."_

" _Neither can I. Not in the last year, anyw-."_

" _You're not_ _working_ _with me, Kara"…_

 _Heart rate, breath, eye movements. A lie can leave so many clues. By the time Alex left for college, Kara didn't miss a thing._

 _Letting things slip? A ways to go._

 _Surprise. Anger. Hurt. It all came across her face, in seconds._

 _His eyes widened for a moment. Then it sank in, what he'd basically admitted to._

" _I was an idiot, to think that, Kara."_

" _You'd have been an idiot not to."_

 _A light seemed to dawn on Eddie. He smiled, bemusedly._

" _I've read a good few travel books. But really? Just for the complaints. Bug bites. Bad food. Don't speak the language. Stuff I can't seem to find in your blog. Stuff that happens to…other people." Kara stiffened, until Eddie raised a hand._

" _I've surfed enough to know when a wave is too much for me. Too high, too fast, too strong." His gaze wavered. "Too deep." Kara took his hand. They both studied the floor._

Kara shrugged. "I felt like, the longer I stayed, the more questions I'd face. And I wouldn't find more answers there. Not on the Big Island. Or Honolulu. It was time to move on."

Donna nodded, and plucked out another name from her itinerary.

 _Customers were starting to trickle in now. Eddie suddenly perked up. "Anyway, that's my advice to 'Herschel C'. Bad food, bug bites and locals you can't understand. Happens to the best of us." Kara sighed with relief._

" _I'm sure it does."_

"Seoul, South Korea."

"Umm, Donna? Can we skip the wonders of the city with the fastest broadband on the planet? Clock is ticking? Not my best writing?"

Catco's personnel director seemed relieved. "No argument there."


	17. Chapter 17

Donna had noticed something about Kara's blog. Herschel C. could go into loving detail about finding passage on freighters to remote islands (was she _trying_ to make her readers seasick?). But during her tour of the Pacific's 'Ring of Fire', there were two months of radio silence.

Donna reached out to a couple of Kara's followers. The story went something like…

Kara mentioned that she was passing through the southern Philippines.

Some brave soul posted: WHAT, THE ISLAND THE STATE DEPT ASKS U PRETTY PLZ NOT TO VISIT? GOOD LUCK!

Every entry to do with the Philippines was deleted in a flash.

Donna could recall an e-mail she got verbatim:

'Weird stuff was going on in Oct, during a typhoon. Sandbag walls that weren't there 20 mins before. Dude held for ransom finds his door open; kidnappers are locked in a shed. I asked 'H.C.' why she wasn't writing about this. Said everything she heard was third-hand, and that wasn't good reporting. Sandy hits the Jersey shore next day - story was forgotten.'

Here, at least.

"Sepilok," Donna began again. "The rehab center for orangutans, in Malaysia."

Kara seemed to relish the memory, but the glow quickly faded. "Some logger or poacher finds an orangutan with her baby in the forest. Just sees a quick payday. Always some fool who wants to take one home as a pet." Kara clicked her tongue, sounding just like a rifle being cocked. Donna shivered a little.

"So fast, so easy, to yank them from their home. So long, so hard, to bring them back. But that's what the rangers try. Every day."

 _The tourists on the walkway beside her were pocketing their cameras. The fruit and sugarcane lay undisturbed in the field. No adolescent orangutans were coming for the feeding today. No pictures to post on Facebook and Twitter._

 _Good. Meant they were out there, among the trees, foraging for themselves. Kara turned towards the nursery. Of course they didn't let the visitors near the baby orangutans. Too many 'human' diseases they could catch. She sighed. And snuck a peek._

Kara smiled. "To give those orphans a second chance."

 _Those long, hairy, ungainly arms. That sweet face. Kara sniffed._

Moving on. "New Caledonia."

Kara almost mentioned the plant life, but caught herself. Must be some story she could relate. Oh. Of course.

"1940. France gets knocked out of the war tout de suite. Lots of territories and colonies. What to do? Well, New Caledonia hears the governor is all for Vichy. And kicks him out by September."

Jeremiah and Eliza's parents had all lived through WWII. So much suffering. And bravery.

"Never heard that story about the war before." Kara turned thoughtful. "Guess I could live to be a thousand, and never hear them all."

"I'm sure you'll ask 'where'd the time go?' long before then," Donna deadpanned. She double-checked her notes.

"You skipped Tokyo, Beijing, but went out of your way to see Norfolk Island, Kara. Why?"

 _New Year's Eve, 2003. Eliza had booked four tickets to the Midvale Cinema, for 'The Return of the King'. With ten minutes to kill, Kara spun the globe in Jeremiah's study, planting a finger on New Zealand. Where 'PJ' and friends had brought 'The Lord of the Rings' to life. The flat screens of Earth still seemed a bit lifeless to her. But even they couldn't dim the beauty of N.Z. She'd make it there, someday. Kara tried to flick away a nearby speck of dirt on the globe. And saw it was an island._

Kara shrugged. "Something random, from when I was a kid. Just learning that even the smallest places have - great stories to tell."

"Such as?"

"The mutineers of the Bounty. Their descendants settled on Norfolk Island, eventually. They're still there now. Like a tiny echo of the past."

Kara could feel the pinprick coming. "Hope you're not the type to swoon over Fletcher Christian. Always seemed a bit thin-skinned to me."

' _Hell on Wheels/359' was one of the first followers of Herschel C's blog. After 18 months, Kara had finally got her real name. Sort of: Barbara G. And a P.O. box. So one morning in mid-December Kara walked into the Burnt Pine post office, on Norfolk Island, with a postcard for 'Hell'. Plus Christmas cards and small packages for Eliza and Alex._

 _Kara rang the bell on the front counter, for assistance. A visibly tense young woman appeared, sporting a name tag identifying her as 'Amura'. She hardly looked at Kara, while accepting the packages. Kara heard her teeth grind. But Amura quickly settled down into a polite, professional manner._

" _Ma'am, I don't see these packages getting to America before New Year's, let alone Christmas. But FedEx does have service on the island. They should make it by Boxing Day."_

 _Kara waved a hand. "Oh, don't bother. I've been in a rush before. Know all about it. Nice to take my time, for once."_

 _Kara's breeziness dried up. Amura's eyes narrowed, as she glared at the Yank who had all the time in the world._

" _Lovely," she whispered._

 _Twenty five minutes later, Kara stepped out of an internet cafe, after a quick e-mail check. She looked forward to one of the rugged beaches nearby. Something the tender-footed tourists would skip._

" _Excuse me? Miss?"_

 _Kara turned around, to see that same postal worker walking briskly up to her. Black hair askew, eyes red._

" _I'm sorry…" and Amura launched into a rapid, minute-long spiel. Hoarse voice. A pinch of Tahitian thrown in. Kara caught maybe one word in three. At the end of it all, she smiled awkwardly._

" _You, uh…you mind saying that one more time?"_

Kara rolled her eyes, affectionately. "Bless her. Patience of a saint. Don't know why Amura didn't write me off then and there."

 _The girl took her time telling her story, as they made their way back to the post office. The job was temporary. Some old biddy with 40 years on the job was out injured. Then decided she wasn't ready to retire after all. Amura had been told her last day was Friday - ten seconds before Kara rang the bell._

" _I know it's…wrong", Amura summed up, bitterly. "Was taught to respect my elders." She opened her arms wide, as if to take in all of Norfolk. "And so damned many of them, too!"_

Kara's face fell. "Young people were leaving in waves for Australia. No work to be found. She told me 2600 people lived on the island in '01. It was 1800 now." Donna winced.

 _Kara pulled a card out of her wallet. "Tell you what," she began. "Can I get you a drink, after work? I'd love to hear your story."_

 _Amura inspected the card. Asked Kara what she wrote about. Where she'd been._

" _Heh. Seems you have better stories to tell than I do."_

 _Kara smiled. "We'll see."…_

 _The two sat on the grass, before the gaol. They sipped their Coopers pale ale, as a crescent moon hung over the stone walls. Amura raised her bottle, as if in a toast to the prison walls._

" _1850's. Out goes the jailers. In comes the Pitcairners. My people." She turned to Kara. "Gonna take the tour while you're here?"_

" _No thanks. Saw the penal colony on New Caledonia already." Fort Rozz. A South Pacific prison. Great places to disappear._

" _Not a big fan of my mutineer ancestor", Amura said simply. "Everyone knows it. No one talks about it. Like…politics at a family dinner." Kara snorted at that one. Then thought of something._

"' _Amura'. What does it mean?" The postal worker seemed flattered._

" _Eclipse of the sun." Kara smiled. "Finally saw one myself, four years ago", Amura went on. "And what does 'Kara' mean?"_

 _Gods. Can't_ _ **believe**_ _I never looked that up before._

" _Don't remember", she muttered._

 _Amura emptied her bottle. "Well, thanks for the…suds?" She guessed at the Yank term for beer. Her voice cracked. "I think…there's more to come on Friday."_

 _She hung her head. "Yeah, I can move to Brisbane. Find a job. And just be…swamped by it all." She sniffed. "I feel like a selfish bastard. Not as if I'm marching to the next refugee camp." She turned to Kara. "But I'm not an Aussie. I'm not a Tahitian. And they'd both be happy to remind me."_

 _Kara took her hand. "The things you do, see, believe in. That's what defines you. They don't get left behind on moving day." Danni would rip that one to shreds. Kara shrugged, and tossed off one of her roommate's quips:_

" _Or they shouldn't be."_

 _Amura seemed moved. "Thank you, Kara." She slowly breathed in. "But - I think you bring more to the table than I could." Kara said nothing._

" _The post was dead by 3PM, so I left an hour early. What are they gonna do, fire me? I went home, changed, and started in on Herschel C's travels. Got sucked in. Why I was late. Sorry." Kara waved a hand._

" _Lots of folks have answers", Amura continued. "You're the one with the questions. The right questions. Harder than it seems. Any of those spots you wrote about would love to have you. And when your little global tour wraps up…someone will."_

 _Kara looked aside._

 _Amura brightened up in a blink. "Heh. Some hostess I am. I get free drinks out of you, and dole out the pity in return. Any plans while you're on Norfolk?"_

" _I'll ask if Emily Bay needs another lifeguard. I was certified, in Hawaii. But yeah, I've booked space on a cargo ship to Auckland. Before New Year's."_

 _The postal worker stiffly got to her feet, and gave Kara a wry look. "One ring to rule them all…"_

" _Yes, Gandalf."_

"… _one ring to find them…"_

" _I would like to see where they shot the films, yes."_

"… _one ring to bring them all…"_

 _Kara got to her feet as lightly as a cat. "Nothing geeky about that."_

"… _and in the darkness bind th - ahh!"_

 _Kara tossed Amura over her shoulder, like a sack of mail._

" _Nothing geeky at all."_

 _Amura squealed with laughter._

"Amura, hear from her lately?"

"I heard she moved away in early '14. But the trail kind of dries up. I don't know where."

Donna nodded, half to herself. "Almost three years. Did you plan to be gone that long?"

"Not really. But I never felt gone from Eliza and Alex. I knew I'd see them again."

A shrug.

"I wasn't gone. I was here."


	18. Chapter 18

_February, 2013._

 _Kara took in the sight of Mount Sunday, on NZ's South Island. Where Eowyn's home, Edoras, came to life in 'The Two Towers'. She normally skipped group tours. But private property surrounded the area. At least they marched through a couple of chilly rivers to get there._

 _And I'm here because of a movie. And a phone call. Christmas Day '03. Didn't expect some made-up place, like Rohan, to shake me up like that._

 _Thank gods I called Clark before Alex fired up the DVD player. Might have spit out something I'd regret._

 _She aimed her camera at the summit…_

Donna held up a printout of Kara's photo. Taking a moment, to admire the scenery.

"I was skeptical of 'Lord of the Rings' for - ever, I guess," she began. "Boys and their toys. Ladies cheering from the sidelines. How noble."

Kara held up a hand, in mild protest.

"Now, Donna. Tolkien starting scribbling ideas down when he was in the trenches. Mud and lice and barbed wire for company. He wasn't thinking about fanboys at Comic-Con." She thought that was a good one. Donna? She almost made an effort to smile. Thought better of it. Sighed. And slowly lowered the picture back to the pile on her desk.

"Time is short, Kara. So I'll wrap things up." A hard to read smile, this time. Kara waited.

"I wasn't trying to poke holes in your story. We all put a spin on our own story, sometimes. Job Interview. First date. Something we want to be. Try to be. And then there's my four o'clock…"

Kara blinked.

"…who thinks he's already there." Kara snorted at that one.

Donna peered over her glasses at her. "Is this where you want to be, Miss Danvers? The questions won't just go away. Do you really want Ms. Grant asking how you went from globe-trotter to fetching her salad?"

Kara took a moment. Tried to keep on an even keel.

"I've had questions thrown my way since I landed on the Danvers' doorstep. Some I couldn't answer. Some I didn't care to. I admire that about Cat Grant. She never got worked up when someone asked…oh, 'What's this gossip columnist doing here?'"

Donna seemed amused. "That's a - polite way of putting it."

Kara shrugged. "She can toss off her little pinpricks all day. It beats being in some airless room. Some jittery bureaucrat going over my passport for the 5th time. Asking if I'm CIA."

It was Donna's turn to blink now. Kara eyes wavered. "Umm, not that I would mention that to Ms. Grant. Or some co-worker over lunch. Or to anyone ever again…"

Donna mulled it over. Let slip a hard to read, Mona Lisa smile. Slowly got up from her chair. Kara followed.

"You hung out with tigers in West Bengal, Kara. I'm sure you'll survive an interview with Ms. Grant."

Kara took a deep breath. Put a hand to her chest, as if to feel her thumping heart. That pounding heartbeat she could hear.

It wasn't her's.

Kara tried to make a quick recovery. Whipped out a hand for a quick shake with Donna.

"Thank you, Ms. Martinez! So much. Do I set it up with you?"

Donna looked down at her hand. It was trembling. She flexed it, as if she'd spent too much time at a keyboard today.

"Oh. Umm, Gail. She arranges Ms. Grant's schedule. I'll take you to her."

Kara gave a stiff shrug. "My calendar's wide open."

Donna took hold of her chair, as if to steady herself. Looked down. Took a breath.

"Great."

Kara had once spent an afternoon in the backyard, reading Don Quixote. No plowing through, this time. Watching the hummingbirds around their feeder, she tried to catch a glimpse of wings in motion.

 _I can see Neptune on a cloudy night. Why not this?_

She picked up the book again. Put it down. Shut her eyes. Gave up pushing. Thinking. Trying. Slowly opened her eyes. And there it was.

Flap. Flap. Flap.

So Kara saw that word, that name, drop from Donna's lips, in exquisite detail.

"Sup - ."

Caught. Donna slowly looked up to her, eyes glistening. Smiled.

Kara winced.

"You know why I brought up New Zealand?" Donna giggled to herself.

"I was going to ask if…you spoke Elvish too." She brushed back a tear.

"Jealous, of course. Can barely speak Portuguese, myself. Knew better than to ask how many languages you have under your belt. You'd be all, 'just something I picked up'."

"Donna."

"Guess I could waste all day, dwelling on stuff you can do better than…"

"Donna." Soft. Stubborn. She turned back to Kara.

Kara slowly took off her glasses. Placed them on the table. Raised an open hand.

"If I may?"

A nod.


	19. Chapter 19

_Christmas Day, 2003. Desert had been polished off. Alex and Kara made their way through a sink of dishes. Conversation drifted in, through the kitchen door. Something about the Shuttle Columbia. So easy to forget. Always seemed to be another crisis on the way._

 _It was the Danvers' first guests in their home in six months._

 _Kara sighed. "I could do this in twenty seconds," she whispered. "Not one crack."_

 _Alex paused, while rinsing a plate. "Well…there were a few." A mischievous smile, as she softly counted them off, on her wet fingers._

" _Cups. Saucers. Plates." Kara gave her a 'I had that coming' look._

" _Picture frame. Curtains," Alex continued. Kara stepped towards her, hands dripping._

" _Hmm. Guess they were singed, not cracked."_

 _Kara didn't find this funny anymore. She took hold of Alex's hand, as if to to examine it._

" _Sprained wrist."_

 _Alex put her free hand on Kara's shoulder. "Could happen to anyone." Kara didn't buy it._

 _Alex plucked a spoon from the sink, and slowly dried it with a dish towel._

" _Sure, you can plow through all this. What's the rush? It's a quiet day. Not just here, either. Enjoy it." Alex shrugged._

" _I'll bet even_ _ **he**_ _has the day off."_

 _Something came over Kara. She smiled at Alex. Then it turned into…what? Alex knew what that grin reminded her of. The Grinch._

 _Alex shut her eyes. Sighed. "Me and my big mouth"…_

Donna had slipped her shaking hands into her pockets. But Kara knew they were there. She slowly sat down. Catco's personnel director remained standing.

"I'm - not sure where to go with this," Kara began. Her eyes wandered to the phone on the Donna's cluttered desk. She gestured to it.

"Look, you can - pick up the phone right now and dial 911 if you want. Or an hour from now. Or 1AM, when I'm asleep in bed. I'd understand. But the SWAT team's not…"

Donna's gaze hardened. Right. Flash grenades and diving through windows. Not gonna help. She backed up.

"You know," Kara started again. "Alex and I used to play this game. I'd come home from school. Or a walk. Or a swim. Just that we had the place to ourselves. And she'd be there, waiting. Did I tell you Alex played softball?"

Donna blinked. Where was this going? Oh.

"No," she silently mouthed.

Kara nodded. "Wanted to keep me on my toes. And, you know, swing a bat at my head. What else are sisters for?" Donna's jaw dropped, in spite of herself.

"Nailed me a couple of times. After that? Swing and a miss." Another mock, breezy tone from Kara. "So, yeah, I think I can slip away from the SWAT team by now."

This seemed familiar to Donna, somehow. Then it all came back. She rolled her eyes.

"Cato and Clouseau, right?"

They both tried to keep a straight face. It lasted a few seconds. They burst out laughing. Donna tried to shush Kara. It only got louder. Donna had to grab hold of her desk, to keep from doubling over.

They got that out of the way. Donna sat back down. Back to business.

"No, Kara. I'm not calling the NCPD about you. Not at 1AM. Or tomorrow. Or the day after that."

Kara took a deep breath. "Thank y-", and trailed off. The look on Donna's face told her they weren't done.

"I'm an office drone who's never seen you bend a paper clip, Kara. Why aren't you asking me how I…know?"

A shrug. "I have an idea. Or two. If you want to tell me, you will."

Donna glared at her, eyes glistening.

That went well.

 _The guests had left. Two minutes later, Kara asked if she could make a call. To Metropolis._

 _Alex heard nothing from her parents' bedroom but a soft murmur. Long stretches of silence. A slightly louder "Okay. Bye". The gentle click of the phone hanging up._

 _Kara made her way to the family room, jaw clenched. Looked to Eliza, Jeremiah and Alex. Took a breath. Tried to unwind. Gestured to the newly unwrapped 'Two Towers' DVD set, by the TV._

" _Let's go save Middle-Earth, then."_

Donna sniffed. "I can feel a thousand questions bouncing through my skull right now. That I've no business asking."

True. Mostly. But Kara wouldn't leave it at that.

"Some, Donna, you do."

 _Alex's gaze kept shifting to Kara, as they watched the film. God, why was she so torn up over poor Theodred dying? Didn't she read the books already?_

 _Theoden, King of Rohan, let fall a small, white flower. "Simbelmyne", he shared with the White Wizard. "Ever has it grown on the tombs of my forebears." He turned to Gandalf. " Now it shall cover the grave of my son. Alas that these evil days should be mine. The young perish. And the old, linger."_

 _Tears ran down Kara's cheeks._

" _That I should live, to see the last days of my house."_

 _Kara had had enough. "Sorry," she muttered, as she strode out the back door, into the snowy yard._

Donna's eyes followed Kara's hand, as she picked up the picture of Mount Sunday on her desk.

"Favorite authors. That's a safe topic, right?"

 _Jeremiah, Eliza and Alex shone their lights on footprints in the snow. They stopped at a red fir tree. Alex tilted her flashlight up, to see Kara slouching on a branch, forty feet up._

" _You found me, rangers," Kara deadpanned. "Aragorn's got nothing on you."_

" _Kara," Eliza began, when she was cut off._

" _Eliza, I'm sorry, but, could I have Alex alone, for a bit?"_

 _The two left for the house. No arguments. Alex shut her flashlight off. It made her feel like some deputy on a manhunt._

" _You can't see me, Alex", Kara helpfully pointed out._

" _But you can see me." A pause._

" _Strange", Kara said, swallowed in darkness. "I tried to tell you stories of Krypton, when I was tripping over English. My English got better, and then I didn't want to."_

 _Alex said nothing._

" _Krypton had a long, bloody history. But the last war ended, many orbits before my time. An ancestor helped make the peace. She was, is, one of my heroes." Alex thought she heard Kara shifting on the branch._

" _But the war stories hung on. 'Heroic' fights for freedom, like Salamis or D-Day. Or so they said. I thought 'Lord of the Rings' would be like that." She took a breath._

" _Kal said I was as brave as those heroes of old. Just trying to be a good person, after what I saw. Alura and Zor taught me that. Eliza, and Jeremiah, and you, would do no less."_

 _Alex sniffed. She almost felt herself floating up to join her._

" _And then he kicked the chair out from under me."_

 _Alex's eyes bugged out, at the 180 Kara pulled._

" _That's the saying, right?"_

 _All Alex could manage was, "Umm, Kara, what's going on with you two?"_

" _Nothing. Not anymore. No phone calls, e-mails or letters. No trips to Metropolis. No tour of the Planet. Kal…". She sighed. Kara was doing something up there. Even her voice sounded different._

" _ **Clark,"**_ _she practically hissed, "said 'A long-lost relative brings questions. You can't call attention to yourself, Kara. Someone could figure out Kara Danvers didn't exist a year ago.' Makes sense, right?"_

 _Curiosity got the better of Alex. She shone her light up._

 _Kara was hanging upside down, bare feet clinging to the branch, looking down at her._

" _Ahh!", Alex yelped, and landed on her butt in the snow. She heard a soft "sorry", up above._

" _I'll live", she grumbled, as she picked herself up. Dusted herself off. Off went the flashlight, again._

 _The pity party was getting to Alex. "What do you want me to say, Kara? That he's wrong? He's not, you know."_

 _A beat. "Yes. I know. It's just…heh. That's what I like about 'Lord of the Rings'. You can read so many things into it." Shifting sounds again. Right side up?_

" _I felt like Eowyn, at first. Feeling something awful was coming, and no one I could go to. Then, I saw a bit of me in Gollum."_

" _What?!"_

" _Stuck in a small, dark place, while others got on with living. By the end, though, I figured out where I fit in."_

 _Alex let slip a small sigh herself. Shone the light up again. Kara sat upright on the branch, her face lost in shadow._

" _I'm the One Ring, Alex. People, beings, whatever, would see me as a prize. Something to take. Shape. Use. I put everyone around me in danger."_

 _Alex had had enough. "Or it's because you're golden, shiny and hard to kill." She could just make out that tilt in Kara's head, when she was amused._

" _I have a story of my own, Kara. About all that. So get down here."_

" _Sure. Just give me some room, please."_

 _Alex measured out ten paces. She turned in time to feel, more than see, Kara land with a soft thud. Like jumping off a park bench to her. Still…_

" _Kara, why'd you - fall like a brick just now?" The light caught a sheepish grin._

" _Uhh…gravity?"_

 _Alex left it there, as they made their way back to the house. "Dad and I saw 'Fellowship' just before Christmas '01", she began._

" _Sooo good. I tackled the books during winter vacation. Thought I'd do Tolkien, when I had to write a biography for school." She stopped, and faced Kara._

" _Five minutes on Yahoo, and I was almost crying. Father dead at four. Mother dead at twelve. Tossed into the trenches of France, during the Great War. All his school friends, but one, got killed. Wife was home, waiting for it to happen to him." Alex shone her light on the path home, and kept moving._

" _He didn't survive because he was brave, or…_ _ **bulletproof**_ _." Alex seemed to relish every syllable. Kara said nothing._

" _I got head lice, when I was nine. Little parasites on your skull, sucking the life out of you. Not fun. Well, picture that, times a billion. Life in a trench for you. He got sick, and missed the rest of the war. That's all. Nothing else."_

 _The backyard light was clearly visible now. Alex took a moment, as if to admire it._

" _He loved Edith. He loved languages. And he was going to drag himself from that hospital bed, all that he lost, to get back there."_

 _Kara mulled it over. Nodded. "Yes. Tolkien was good at languages from long ago. I'm good at breaking things and burning stuff." Alex rolled her eyes._

" _We have so much in common, don't we?"_

 _Alex waved her flashlight home, to signal the Danvers', and shut it off for good. "Sauron poured his hate, and greed, into that ring, Kara. Not what your parents did. So don't feed me that 'I'm the One Ring' line again."_

 _They approached the back deck. "And please, don't do that upside-down, bat thing again. Not your style." Kara smiled, and kissed her on the cheek._

Kara handed the printout of Mt Sunday back to Donna, who lowered it onto the pile. She could guess that something, besides a movie, had sent Kara running out into the snow that night.

Keep wondering. Small price to pay.

Kara indulged in a little trip down memory lane. Smiled. "Even got caught up with Danni, while down there. Fired off an IM to me, while I was drinking tea at Mt Potts Lodge."

Donna's expression was hard to read. She stood up, and studied the floor.

"Kara, I - I'd like to hear more about your…" She looked up.

"Trip around the globe. I did hear a rumor, or two, in my research." A bit of a smirk. "Some girl wrestling a brown bear in Slovenia. That sort of thing."

Donna cleared her throat. "Not that I'd bring this up in the cafeteria downstairs…"

Kara stood up, already with a plan. "Caswell State Forest? Sunday? 10AM?"

Donna sadly shook her head. "Sorry. Laundry day."

A smirk from Kara, this time. It didn't last long. Time was short. "Donna, how did - "

A shrug. "Little things. Lava flow. Slovenian. That whole, 'What, me worry?' attitude, when a ceiling could have come down on you. Not sure when it added up. But I knew this: I couldn't spend 12 years bouncing around orphanages, under the radar. Not without turning into something mean and hard. And that wasn't you." her voice cracked. "Only human."

She stepped around the desk. They shook hands. Kara snuck in a quick hug. Donna accepted it, grudgingly. And drained the last of her water bottle.

"You won't be seeing much of me around here, Kara. Ms. Grant likes to get people's names **just** a little off. First time she called me 'Dana', it was…funny? Second time, I glared at her." Kara's eyes widened.

"We've - stuck to our little circles since then."

Donna looked down, again. "I don't see this ending well, Kara." She looked up. "I see myself asking the wrong questions. Not knowing when to quit. Maybe you wouldn't, either."

Kara nodded. "Then we'll find the right questions." She picked up a paper clip. Bent it. Donna snorted.

"Together."

A knock. Kara, smiling, whipped on her glasses in a split-second blur. A single sheet of paper blew off the desk. She bent down to retrieve it. Donna raised a hand, and got it herself.

"I'm sorry. Our time is up."

 _Gandalf looked to Theoden. "Theodred's death, was not of your making."_

 _The king of Rohan stared ahead. "No parents should have to bury their child." And wept._

" _He was strong in life," said the wizard. "His spirit will find its way to the halls of your fathers."_

 _Sprawled on the rug, Kara and Alex eyed each other._

" _There's still hope."_


	20. Chapter 20

Donna hadn't had cable TV in 20 years. Radio, internet and a DVD player provided all the news and entertainment she needed. It seemed to come up at every office party. Let it.

She turned the page on her John le Carre novel. She'd inhaled books about espionage in the last year. Thrillers. Non-fiction. Even a course from the Teaching Company. Who better to lay low, keep a secret, than a spy?

Not James Bond, for one.

"Brrring!" She reached over to the phone on her bedside table.

"Hello?"

"Donna!", a voice exclaimed breathlessly.

That wasn't like her. "Fernanda - que pasa?"

"Are you all right?"

"Umm…fine?"

"There's a plane on television! National City! Going in circles! A wing on fire…"

"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, Fee. Where are you getting this from?"

Donna turned on the radio. Thirty seconds in, she knew it was the real deal. Spoke calmly to Fernanda. Tried to listen to air traffic control from her laptop.

Her Flash Player was out of date. Thanks, Adobe.

She thought of Ed Murrow, reporting from the rooftops of London during the Blitz. Death from the skies. Live on the radio. Or Youtube, in her case. She could almost hear the angry whine of the engines.

Oh. She was hearing that.

Donna tiptoed to the window. Opened the curtains. The whine became a roar. Felt the sound in her chest. The 747 screamed above for two seconds, then ducked behind the city skyline.

She turned off the radio. Shut the laptop. Told Fee she'd call back with more info. A lie. Sank to the floor. Wept.

Seven minutes later, she forced herself to turn the radio back on.

"A miracle." "Plane intact." "Harbor patrol is on the way."

She wrestled with the damned Flash Player on her computer. Finally got to hear a police helicopter describe the scene:

"Huh? A woman on the wing. How'd she get there? Don't see any doors open …Oh my God! She f- she flew off! She's gone!"

Three weeks later…

Donna once read that time slows to a crawl, if you're sucked down a black hole. Or is it a conference call?

She went over her calendar for the afternoon. Trying not to dwell on 45 minutes of her life she'd never get back. A knock on the door.

"Yes."

And Cat Grant's assistant walked in, almost gingerly. She left the door open. Donna stood. Her eyes widened, but only for a moment. Just Kara Danvers. No big deal.

Kara took a quick glance around the room. Seemed reassured, how little it had changed in eleven months. Held up a letter for the personnel department.

"This landed on my desk. Mix-up in the mail room." Donna looked down her glasses at Kara, who smiled. "It had help," she admitted.

"Anyhoo," Kara continued, lowering her voice. "Ms. Grant took off. Checking out high schools her son might attend. Carter, I believe? Left me some proposals to go over." A beat. "Which I could do in three minutes." Donna smirked. Then, a quizzical look.

"I have an hour or two to myself, Donna, for once. And I'd like to…talk." Donna help up a hand.

"When, and where?" she asked patiently…

Donna took in the concrete and metal of stairwell B, under a harsh fluorescent light. Peeked over the handrail at the cement floor 29 stories down. Shuddered a little. Did Kara ever shudder a little, high up there?

Footsteps from below. Right on time. Kara climbed the stairs, carrying a supermarket bag filled with something. Set it down. Smiled, then noticed Donna's hands. They were trembling.

Donna sniffed, and raised a finger. "Let me just say, Kara, it's not that I'm afraid of you." She shrugged. "Doing something, saying something, that might give you away? Yeah, a little."

Kara slowly stepped forward. Held out a hand. Donna took it. The trembling stopped. She took a deep breath. "That helps," Donna summed up.

Kara scanned the perimeter one more time, and pocketed her glasses. They hugged.

"I feel like a heel," Kara said softly. "Hardly seeing you, in the last year." Another shrug from Donna.

"Ms. Grant's assistants never hung out before with me. Why start now?" Kara raised an eyebrow. Donna's gaze shifted aside.

"I knew you had to figure it out for yourself. Where to go, with…" Donna waved a hand. "All I could do was give you some time and space." She looked back to Kara. "No pun intended." Kara groaned.

"Hey, you are the only E.T. I know."

Kara looked at her wryly. "Como esta, Donna?"

Donna mulled it over. "The days go by much the same. Then I check my texts, e-mails, and it's all Supergirl, all the time." Kara looked almost embarrassed..

"My friends and family think I've got inside dirt on her or something." Kara snorted at that one.

A motherly look came over Donna now. "How about yourself? In bed at 1AM much, these days?"

Kara tried to wave it off. "Oh, some nights are busier than others." Saw that Donna didn't buy it.

"Not…not really, no. Two-ish, sometimes." She glanced to the side. "Three-ish."

Donna let out a slow breath. "Kara, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, did you do something kind of, sort of, maybe like, sleep?"

Kara guessed where this was headed. And wasn't giving in, just yet.

"I deal with things in my job, Donna, that I've no control over. That I can't change." Her mood seemed to brighten. "If I can help someone, even at 3AM? That is something I can change."

"And where do you draw the line, hmm?", Donna shot back. "The state? The country? The planet Earth? Worlds without end?" Her eyes narrowed. "Sure, You can keep pushing yourself, Kara. And you'll be something I don't know. That I don't want to know."

Kara's expression was perfectly bland. Donna caught on in a heartbeat. She'd have preferred a scowl just now.

"Someone, Kara." Donna said hurriedly. Looked down. "Someone."

A beat.

"Yes."

Donna looked up. Waited.

"I'd watch the moons of Krypton drift past my window, as I nodded off," Kara said simply. Donna's eyes welled.

"No. I'm not from Andromeda. Or the Centaurus Cluster. I'm from the same galaxy as you, Donna."

Donna sniffed. Nodded. Smiled. "Well, _neighbor_ ", she rasped, "I can't look through walls. But I've seen a change in this city. People aren't burying their noses in their phones. Looking the other way, when something is wrong." She tilted her head slightly.

"Little things. Checking up on an elderly shut-in. Giving a ride to someone who missed the last bus. Or so I hear." Kara blinked. News to her.

"You're looking out for us, Kara. Least we can do is look out for each other. Even at 3AM." Kara's turn to sniff now. Until she raised a hand.

"Tidal waves. Killer robots. I can still deal with those at 3AM, right?"

Donna smirked. Sighed. "What are we gonna do with you?" A pause. "Hey, least you know what to call the galaxy, now. Before, you were getting the name wrong."

Another snort from Kara. But the line seemed to jog something in her. "Funny, that"…

 _The brightness. The strange sensations she couldn't describe (even in Kryptonian). Sol didn't hurt anymore. But Kara was still finding her comfort zone. So the sunglasses stayed on, that cloudy afternoon, in the parking lot of the Midvale Market. Eliza leaned down to her. Alex stood a few steps behind, scanning the lot for friends of her's._

" _It's a lot to take in, Kara. Just say the word, and we'll go."_

 _Kara slowly took off the shades, and pocketed them. Looked at Mrs. Danvers, through watery eyes._

" _I eat the food at your table. I can help bring it there."_

 _Eliza turned to Alex. Just a hint of smugness. "Nice to have someone who wants to help."_

 _Alex didn't look impressed. "Yes, isn't it?"_

 _Eliza gave the two plenty of room, as Kara sniffed the air in the chocolate aisle. The nose? A bit too high up. Alex winced. "Go easy, Kara," she whispered._

" _Yes." A different approach, then. "Chocolate. What is it made of?"_

" _Beans. Cocoa beans. Milk and sugar, I guess," came Alex's dutiful reply._

 _Something caught Kara's eye. She turned back. Picked up a bar. Examined the label, and held it up to Alex._

" _You named the galaxy after chocolate?"…_

Four months from now…

The room rocked with laughter. Donna and her guest sat on her living room carpet, leaning on her couch. Donna caught her breath.

"Says she just got the words mixed up a little."

Her guest nodded. Took a last swig from a lukewarm bottle of Bohemia lager.

"Mmm. Alex must have **loved** Halloween '03. Asking every house, 'Do you have Milky Ways'?".

"Heh…you can ask Kara yourself. Tomorrow."

The young woman sighed, and slowly shook her head.

"I'm here to ask about Krypton. Them's the rules." She turned to her host. "Here's a question you've heard a thousand times, I'm sure."

Cleared her throat.

"Have you ever seen Miss Boots and Cape fly?"

"Yeah." That tone. That hard look.

"Once, Danni. Four nights ago."

Danielle Moran sucked in a breath.

"Right after she slid Ms. Grant to the sidewalk. Like a fish. I was 20 feet away. Praying she wouldn't notice me."

Danielle's eyes narrowed. "That's some pep talk you've got, coach," she whispered.

"It happened. Can't pretend it didn't."

Danielle opened her mouth. Thought better of it. Looked around the place.

"The bag. Any story there?"

Donna was thrown for a second. "Huh? Oh. Just some clothes of her's…"

" _Never know when I have to change in a hurry, heh."_

"…I keep it under the spare bed." Danielle glanced towards her room for the night.

"She's never visited here before. But told me she flew over, once, while on patrol. Liked the look of the place."

"Ah…"

"Cool."

—

Just to clarify, that last bit is after the episode 'Falling'.


	21. Chapter 21

Supergirl had inspired so much, in so many people, these last two months.

Donna could have been inspired to go the the gym more often.

She hadn't.

As she huffed and puffed across six city blocks, carrying a case of water, she wished she had.

At least the power was coming back, in fits and starts. Until the next aftershock?

At least buildings were damaged, not collapsing.

At least people were scared and stressed; beats hurt and dead.

At least the Maid of Might was here to land a h-

Oh, right.

Donna thanked creation the elevator ride was earthquake free. As she hauled the water the last few paces to Catco HQ, she thought she saw a familiar hairstyle bobbing down the hallway.

Followed her until she was sure. Got close enough to avoid shouting.

"Kara."

The figure paused. Donna let the water fall to an empty desk with a satisfying thud. Looked up. "What the hell is going on with y-".

The most amazing person Donna would ever know; her arm was in a sling.

Kara sneezed, and winced in pain.

My turn to feel like a heel now…

Donna and Kara quickly found a quiet room to talk. And had nothing to say.

Donna had never followed gossip about the Man of Steel. But even she'd heard rumors about his, what, power outages? Now it was Kara's turn. Laugh or cry -

"You're timing sucks, Kara." They laughed. Kara winced some more.

"Sure does. Hey, did you know that sidewalks are hard?" Donna smiled weakly.

"Kara, wha-" Donna caught herself. Waved a hand. Then her eyes followed Kara's hand, as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. Kara noticed, blew, and shook her head.

"Don't worry. Not the Kryptonian super flu. Just something I picked up on the bus yesterday. Some runny-nosed kid, I think. My immune system went from invincible to useless overnight."

Kara choked up. "Kind of…like…"

Donna stepped towards her. She'd risk the cold. "You are not _useless_ , señorita", she almost hissed.

A breath. A bitter smile. A nod. "So that's why asked for a full and detailed report, yesterday. So I could be useful."

Ah, a **D** ependably **E** fficient **O** rganization.

"They never bothered, when I was punching things."

A bit of fire still there. Good. And where does it go from here?

"Aaand I'm not much good at a keyboard right now. So, Ms. Grant is having me take inventory. Tablets, chargers, that sort of thing."

Those spies and their secrets I read about. What would they do?

Kara took a step back. A resigned look on her. "I wish I could help you, Donna. You and everyone else. But…" She waved her free hand.

Secrets.

"Watch yourself," Kara muttered, as she turned to leave.

"Greek fire."

Kara slowly turned back, confusion on her face.

"Ever hear of it?"

Kara's eyes narrowed, but must have decided there was a point to this. She seemed to rummage through her memory banks.

"I vaguely recall something."

"Tell me."

A 'you kidding me?' look. A 'hope you're happy' smile.

"A Byzantine secret weapon. Medieval flame-thrower. Set enemy ships ablaze. Yeah, team."

"Good. Now why did it fade out?"

Kara rolled her eyes, but pressed on.

"Tried to keep the formula a secret. Split up the manufacturing. Right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing. The day came when no one was left who could actually make the stuff. It was forgotten."

She smiled - at human folly?

"They hid it from their enemies. And everyone else. Even themselves."

She paused. A look of mild irritation. "So…I'm a secret weapon, is that it? Just what I always wanted."

Donna smiled. Gently took her hand. "My dear, you're not a weapon. Not to me. Or your _friends."_ A knowing look from Kara.

"But others will see you as nothing else. You had to keep that part of you a secret. But hiding so much? For so long?" Donna shrugged.

"I think you hid something from yourself." Kara blinked.

"And you will find it, Kara."

She sniffed. Stepped towards Donna. Caught herself. Stepped back. And grinned.

"Nice pep talk, coach. But I appreciate it. I really do."

Donna nodded, as something buzzed in Kara's pocket. She carefully pulled out her phone.

"Ahh, cel service is back. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Donna took that as her cue. "Well, think that case of water is gonna walk off if I'm here much longer. Good luck with inventory."

"Thanks." Kara had an almost goofy grin, as Donna stepped out.

It dropped the second the door closed.

"Oh gods," she muttered, as she saw the text:

 **Are you OK?**

Danni had been waiting seven hours for a reply. The DEO could wait a few minutes.

Never texted left-handed, before. She took her time…

Danielle sprawled on the carpet, as her roommate took a shower. Took a deep breath as she read it again:

 **I'm all right, Danni - we lost cel srvc; Nat City could be worse & could be better, will call when I can / Kara**

She came up with a witty reply. Double checked it. Couldn't believe what she'd written:

 **And your better half?**

Deleted it with all deliberate care. Sent something well-meaning and bland. Looked up at the ceiling.

"Still think it was a good idea, Zee?"

No reply.

—

This all takes place during the episode 'Human for a Day'.

I've always thought the spoken intro to the show was too wordy.

Hope you like my take, and thanks for reading:

 _I'm not human_

 _But I am a person_

 _I was a person on Krypton_

 _and I am a person here_

 _I lost my family_

 _and found another_

 _I lost my home_

 _I won't lose another_

 _I am Kara Zor-El_

 _I am Kara Danvers_

 _I am…_

 _Supergirl_


	22. Chapter 22

SUNDAY

A rare foggy day. A quiet one, too. Seemed as good a time as any. Donna noticed that Caswell State Forest offered both thick woods, and a view of National City in the distance. Usually. She texted Kara:

 **are you busy?**

Kara called back five minutes later.

"Donna - what's up?"

Out of breath? Better than screams in the background.

"Uhh - is this a bad time?"

"Not anymore."

"Heh. Uh, Kara, can we - talk?"

"I'll be there in ten."

"I haven't told you where I am, silly."

"But you will." Sweet, with a dash of smugness.

Donna gave her location. Thumbed past her pictures of Machu Picchu, while she waited…

 _In the dimly lit stairwell, Donna entered Kara's contact info into her phone._

" _You can call anytime, Donna. Any reason."_

 _A sigh._

" _If my neighbor's house is on fire I'm calling 9-1-1, not Supergirl."_

 _Kara's face slowly hardened. "And if someone's inside?"_

 _Donna knew in a heartbeat how indifferent she sounded. She pocketed the phone, and looked up to Kara._

" _My dear, it is a privilege to know you. And I don't want to abuse that privilege. Don't want to risk what you've started, for just anything."_

 _A very capable look came over Kara._

" _Nothing strange in calling me about a fire. You're just…" A savory pause._

" _Telling the local media about a news story." Donna let slip a chuckle._

" _Weird things happen around me, sometimes. There's always an explanation."_

 _Donna nodded. A deadpan expression._

" _So, I can…call you when a big snake gets stuck in a tree, right?"_

 _Kara smiled. "Not gonna hear the end of that one, am I?"_

Donna heard a breeze that wasn't there a moment before. The tiniest snap of a twig. Turned around, and Kara stood ten feet away. Her hair was damp.

Shampoo, Donna thought. What's best for getting rid of gunpowder? Broken glass? She'd find the nerve to ask. Someday.

They hugged. Kara smiled. And waited.

Donna looked down. "Just wanted to thank you for your…little shout out to Slim Pickens last week."

Kara blinked. Caught on. Rolled her eyes.

"Ahh…'Dr. Strangelove'. Alex tried for years to get me to watch. End of the world didn't seem very funny to me." Donna's eyes widened. Kara waved a hand.

"Danni finally wore me down. It was playing at a small movie house, near campus." A beat.

"Laughed our asses off." They grinned. Until Donna seemed to deflate before her.

"The day you started flying around, Kara, with that 'S' on your chest? I told myself there was one thing I could do. Remind you. That you can't do everything."

Kara protested, for half a second. "I never thought…" Caught herself. Nodded.

Donna peered through the branches, at National City, in the distance. "Now you're dealing with someone, something, that can wipe this all out." She turned back to Kara.

"Because they…can?"

A nod.

Donna paused for breath. "Heh. That whole 'know your limits' thing doesn't seem so smart, now. But I think about what you'd have to do. To stop the likes of them. And that you won't be the same."

Something seemed to stir in Kara. She smiled, a little. "A friend once told me that creation is always changing. It's for each of us, to decide. What to hold on to. What to let go of."

Donna mulled it over. "So, your friend writes fortune cookies, does she?"

Kara seemed annoyed. "No, she doesn't."

"So it is a woman, then."

Caught. Only thing to do. Donna hardly felt Kara's hands on her waist, as she lifted her high in the air.

"Oh! You found my weakness!" Donna laughed, as Kara slowly spun her around.

"My every secret will soon be yours! What will I do?" She gently lowered Donna back to solid ground.

"I should introduce you to Danni, next weekend. She's good at that, too."

Donna was confused. "Your college roommate? What's she have to do w-" That slightly smug look on Kara's face, again. Waiting for Donna to catch up.

"Oh. I guess you…guessed what I guessed, huh?"

"Yup."

"She still in the Boston area?"

"She is."

"And you're not going to her? Is that a good idea? Her, rubbing shoulders with our scary aliens and science experiments gone bad?"

"She can be - stubborn."

TUESDAY

Donna never noticed much variation in the morning routine at Catco. The live body waiting for Cat Grant's private elevator was new. And the Serena Williams-like, toned arms. What the…?

Her jaw literally dropped, as she took in Kara Danvers' new look. Who noticed. Turned towards her. And smiled. But not a smile Donna recognized.

Donna fumbled for words. "Umm, that's a new look for you."

"I thought so," she replied cooly, as Cat Grant's elevator opened its doors.

"Uh, that's Ms. Grant's private elevator."

"Yes, it is," Kara almost drawled, and stepped towards it.

"Kara? A word?" She turned back to Donna, an almost cold look to her.

"Please?", Donna murmured.

They stood at the bottom of Stairwell B. Kara checked the e-mails on her phone.

"What is this, Kara?"

"This is a new look," Kara replied, keeping her eyes squarely on her little screen. "And since it does not involve wearing a bootleg Supergirl t-shirt or leaving the glasses at home, I don't see what the problem is."

"You're calling attention to yourself," Donna almost hissed. "That's **her** job. Not your's."

Kara seemed thoughtful all of a sudden. "You know, I've been thinking of what you said. About knowing my limits. And I think I do now." Donna relaxed, slightly.

"It's what I created myself. To make Eliza happy. And Alex. And my friends, with the guns and cell blocks." Donna had to force herself to take a breath.

Kara looked up to the ceiling, far above in the distance. "Still on the 27th floor, right?"

Donna's throat felt like Death Valley. "Yeah, same as always," she croaked.

"Need a lift…?"

SATURDAY

Donna brushed back a tear, even as she laughed.

"You know what I was thinking of, just then, Danni?" Danielle shook her head.

"'Toy Story 2'. Watched it with my niece, over and over."

Danielle didn't see the connection. Until she did.

"You've got the wrong Buzz!" she bellowed. Donna's living room rocked with laughter…

 _Donna forced the words to come out._

" _Thanks. I'll take the elevator."_

 _Kara paused. Smiled. "So will I," she said. Walked past her to the door._

" _Good luck with those spreadsheets," Donna heard, as the door closed behind her. She looked down, to her shaking hand._

Donna looked down, to her shaking hand. Danielle took it.

"You, are awesome," she whispered to Donna.

"Don't feel like it."

—

This references the episodes 'Solitude' and 'Falling'.


	23. Chapter 23

2011

Kara lay on her bed, paging through a library book about Belize. Hardly took in a word. She heard Danielle, five doors down, step out of the bathroom. No shower?

Her roommate walked in. Placed a dry towel into their small closet. Lowered herself to the floor. And looked at her.

Kara set the book aside.

"Umm, did I…?"

Kara slowly exhaled.

"Take some soap from you last night, Kara?"

She blinked.

"I'm, I'm s-sorry, what?"

Danielle shrugged.

"Soap? Shampoo? Deodorant? Guess I took a shower last night. Must have been in a fog." Let slip a sheepish grin.

"Cuz I'd be happy to plug that stuff right now. Never felt so clean."

Danielle lay back on the carpet. Breathed deeply.

"It's like - cut grass, from home."

Kara's eyes widened, as if in recognition.

"Oh, that. Just something I got, at a craft fair. In Midvale."

Danielle nodded. Sniffed. And started to cry.

Kara got up, and gingerly approached.

Danielle sat up suddenly, and glared at her.

"Why aren't you mad at me? You want to help people. And I just twisted that around to help _me_. I didn't set out to. It just seemed…"

Danielle spit out the word.

" **Normal."**

Kara gestured to the floor. Danielle shrugged. It would do. Kara gracefully slid down.

"I was mad. For weeks. How'd that go? As for 'normal'? Well, we're not. Are we?"

Danielle blinked, and wiped at her damp eyes.

"I bounced around for years, Danni. Invisible. Forgotten. Then Eliza and Jeremiah took me in. A family. I wanted to fit in. So much. So much that I…forgot the ways I don't fit in."

Uh oh.

"Alex and I went for a hike in the woods. I spotted a butterfly. Took Alex's hand to show her. And sprained her wrist."

Danielle winced.

A sad smile. "Her throwing arm, of course. Heh. Learned a few curse words that day."

Danielle smirked.

 _Alex's arm hung limp, as she and Kara stepped into the clearing. The house was visible from here. She turned to Kara, who didn't lift her eyes from the grass below._

" _Arm's still attached. That's good, right?"_

Kara leaned forward. "Yes. The things you can do, I can do, can be dangerous. Can hurt someone."

A sharper tone, now. "You know what else is dangerous? Treating this like something unnatural, to keep buried."

An ironic smile. "Or that you're destined for greatness. Or something."

Danielle gave her a 'you kidding me?' look.

A warm smile from Kara, now. "They gave me the time, Danni, to figure this out. Give yourself that, too."

A nod.

Kara got up effortlessly. Danielle politely declined the offered hand, and awkwardly stood up.

"You will find someone who's been through this before. Who can help."

A mischievous tilt to Kara's head. "Counsellor Troi."

Danielle swung a fist at her shoulder. It hurt.

"Ow," she deadpanned. Kara gave a smug smile.

Danielle stayed with a safe topic. "So, fellow metahuman, where are you off to next?"

Kara was glad to play along. "Herschel C, globe-trotting blogger, is off to Mexico. A telescope in Baja. Mayan ruins, next. Bit of the Amazon rain forest. Haven't planned much beyond that."

Danielle's eyes widened. "You can afford airfare for that?"

Kara shook her head. "Boots and buses. Not very good at flying. Yourself?"

Danielle took a sudden interest in the chair they shared, and slid it out from under the desk.

"Not sure how I'll afford the rent. But Boston. Someday."

She turned the chair to face Kara. Sat down. An expectant smile.

Kara didn't follow. Until she did. She bent down, trying to keep a straight face.

"I'm not a forklift."

Danielle waited patiently. Kara sighed, and raised a finger.

"Once." A Cheshire cat grin from Danielle.

"And don't scream your head off, this time."

That threw Danielle off. "When did I do that?"

"Uhh…Dr Strangelove, wasn't it?"

"Didn't think I was that bad…AHH!"

Kara lifted Danielle, chair and all, high over her head.

Thank gods for high ceilings.

—

I think I'm going to breeze through Danielle's next four years at a faster pace. Thanks for your patience.


	24. Chapter 24

FEBRUARY 2013

Kara went over her notes for the day, dabbing at the lamb stew splatter with a napkin. Mt Potts Lodge was just a km away, by dirt road, from Edoras (aka Mt Sunday). Her waitress was a dark haired girl of 18 or so. Kara had overheard the name, and was curious.

"Uh, Whetu, right?", she asked, as the girl refilled her mug of tea.

"Yes, miss."

"May I ask - what does it mean?"

The girl seemed flattered. "It means 'star'."

Kara almost seemed moved. Whetu's smile took a mischievous turn.

"And what does 'Kara' mean?"

Good one.

"It's Kara with a 'K'. Comes from the Cornish word for 'love'." Kara smiled to herself.

"Don't think my parents had that in mind, though."

Whetu looked out the window, to the spot 'LOTR' fans came from far and wide to see. "Seen 'The Hobbit' yet?"

Kara gave a deadpan look. "Yes. In Christchurch. Like something out of Shakespeare."

Whetu raised an eyebrow.

"Sound and fury. Signifying nothing."

They cracked up. "That," Kara sighed. "Or a 'Star Wars' prequel."

Her waitress shrugged. "'Two Towers' is my favorite. Watched it five times. Still haven't seen any Maori defending Helm's Deep, though."

Kara snorted at that one. Whetu glanced at her notepad.

"Where to, next?"

"Oh, Tasmania. The Sydney Opera House. And I can't wait to start tramping through the Outback."

Whetu shuddered. "Eh? That Sun'll beat down on you, girl! All day, every day."

An almost dreamy look came over Kara. Whetu waived her hand, and went on to the next customer.

Kara's laptop was a bit beat up, after twenty one months (mostly) on the road. She grew tired of the smirks and chuckles, when updating her blog in public. One fellow in Auckland at least had a funny line:

"Wass that, Mad Max's computer?"

Sprawled on her bed, in her modest quarters, she was absent-mindedly deleting e-mails, when she heard the ping of an IM.

Kara looked at the pop-up message. And sucked in a breath.

 **AMS-GAL/92:** _thanks for the tea you sadist_

Kara let out a cackle, and almost killed the poor machine right there, pounding on the keyboard.

 **HERSCHEL-C/1750:** _my pleasure…_

DECEMBER 2014

Danielle's face appeared on the laptop's screen. She blinked, and peered into the camera.

"Wow! Finally got a new computer, Kara?"

"Yes." Kara didn't seem enthused.

"Damn! Can even see the little scar on your forehead. Forgot about that." Kara gave a half-smile.

"How long did that old fossil last?"

 _She had known it was winding down, for days. All the data was safe and sound on a thumb drive now._

 _Kara sat cross-legged, by the banks of the Colorado River. She held up the laptop, showing it the majesty around them. The walls of the Grand Canyon flickered, dimly and shakily, on its screen._

" _Thank you," Kara said. And it died._

"Till the end of the road."

A sad smile.

"Uncle had a Harley like that, once. Where do I send the sympathy card?"

Kara grinned. "That's why I rang. I'm calling National City home now, Danni. And…I'm pretty sure I've got a job lined up."

"Woo hoo!", Danielle cried.

"Ms. Grant is interviewing me, tomorrow." The enthusiasm drained out of Danielle's face, almost instantly.

Kara sighed. "Danni, will you tell me what your problem with Cat Grant is? She has stood up to powerful people; people who wanted Catco to sweep big stories under the rug."

Danielle nodded. "That may be true. Let me tell you another story." Kara waited patiently.

"My boss at the Meteorological Society? Worked hard to be a journalist, once. Wanted to write about the latest in science. Got a job at the Planet, back in the 90's. Knew Cat Grant, a little."

Kara glanced to the side.

"The three martini lunches ended. The belt tightening began. Where to trim the fat? The publishers knew Cat Grant had a head for business. Asked her advice. She had her stats lined up. Readers wanted more gossip, and less science. So my boss got to spend 'more time' with her family."

Kara winced.

"Finally asked her, one day, if she had any hard feelings." A beat.

"Just said, 'Cat Grant is in the business of Cat Grant'."

Danielle and Kara eyed each other.

"Watch yourself, Kara."

A nod.

"I always do."

DECEMBER 2015

Kara had a routine, before going on patrol in the evening.

Unless Alex was over, for takeout and Netflix.

Or it was game night, with Winn and James.

Or if she, Alex and Henshaw were bouncing ideas off each other, wondering what dear Auntie's ultimate goal was.

Or she was tangling with some escaped convict from Fort Rozz, who'd rather strike fear into the puny Earthlings than live in peace among them.

The routine? More of a rarity.

Anyway…

The stars were aligned, tonight. New Year's Eve.

Kara took in the mail. Stashed the uniform away. Checked texts, e-mails and voicemails (Ms. Grant and Alex were always neck and neck).

A bit of news. The radio told of the goings-on in the world, as she prepared supper.

Tore up the junk mail, as she fried the eggplant. A horse sanctuary in Montana needs your help? Tempting, but no.

Then a postcard caught her eye. Mailed from Cusco, Peru. Was that…Machu Picchu? She checked the writing.

No signature. Just four words en espanol.

"Who has the time?"

She laughed. The eggplant burned.

A bit of music. Finally got to pop the 'Hamilton' soundtrack into the CD player. Thanks, Eliza.

A bit of quiet. Kara turned off the lights. Parted the curtain. Opened the window. Put the uniform on the bed. Lay down on the floor. And cleared her head.

It never worked.

James had invited her to a party he and Lucy were hosting.

" _The streets were deserted a week ago. They won't be tonight. I'm sorry."_

Bomb threats. Why'd it have to be bomb threats?

Always some idiot looking to stir up trouble. And ruin a perfectly good lunch break.

She'd tell a police officer tonight that she'd heard about the threats. Would keep her eyes and ears open.

She'd greet a family or two, heading to the procession. And tell them what she'd tell the officer:

"Be safe. Happy New Year."

The phone rang. A MA area code?

"Hello?"

"Happy New Year, kid."

"Danni! Happy New Year to you, too." It had been months since they'd heard each other's voices over the line.

Kara glanced down at the bed, and out the window. "Uh, Danni would you mind terribly if I put you on speaker? Kind of multi-tasking here."

"Go ahead."

They exchanged pleasantries, as Kara suited up. She could sense a change in Danielle's voice, though, as she slid on a boot.

"Kara, I'll get to the point. I look back at the work I did, for the AMS? A year ago? And I cringe. I was **that girl**. The one who gets by on one-liners, and leaves the heavy lifting to others." Kara paused, while sliding on her other boot.

"And at some point, something changed. I wanted to do more. Be more. So I threw myself into weather patterns. Climate data. Worked harder than I did in college." Kara stood up, and faced the phone. Where was this going?

"Got a lot of snide remarks. 'Who's this copy editor?' But I got noticed…There's a climatology conference coming to National City in March, Kara." Her eyes widened.

"And I'm gonna be there."

Kara shrieked with laughter. Did her best Mary Poppins, and spun around a dozen times in the air. Luckily for the lamp, she hadn't clipped on the cape yet.

Danielle chuckled over the speaker, as Kara hovered a foot over it. "That's great! I can take you out for breakfast. You can crash at my place…"

Knew it was a bad idea, even as she spoke it. But there it was. How to back out of that one?

She didn't have to.

"Umm, it's okay, Kara. You'll be busy. I'll be busy. Tell you what? I never took up your offer to go on a hike through the woods before. Why not now? The hotel's near a state forest. Know it?"

Kara landed gently. Nodded. And rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I know it well."

"It's a date"…

Kara got back at 2AM. No bombs, of course. No bank robberies, or drunks driving off bridges, or even Auntie Astra crashing the party.

A woman hugged her, and thanked her, for saving her nephew from a fire.

Best New Year's Ever.

She poured herself a glass of eggnog. Even the long overdue reunion with Danielle Moran was looking good.

She'd come clean. Get the 'Mistress of Magic' to pen a note. Rip the bandage off. Apologize, and ask (beg?) for a second chance.

That meet up in the woods? Brilliant.

She downed the eggnog.

Nobody has to know Danni is here at all.

She stared into space. Dropped the glass. Didn't care. It shattered.

"She knows."

How?

Take one guess.

"Good one, Zee."

What happens now?

A line from Zatanna's stage patter. The intro. Seeing her that night, with Cathi…

" _All will be…revealed."_


	25. Chapter 25

Kara could hear it still. Even with the wind roaring in her ears. The ticking clockwork of death that missile carried.

Defending democracy.

" _it's a beautiful world, Kara. Worth protecting."_

" _On that, we agree."_

Was Astra…halfright?

" _And you would trust it? To_ _ **them**_ _? They will destroy themselves. Leave this planet a ruin. Unless we guide them."_

" _Not like this. Not by force. We can learn from their mistakes, Astra. As they can learn from our's. Together."_

It was 2:45AM. Sleep wasn't happening.

" _On that, little one? We don't agree."_

Neither does dear Uncle, now. Or ever.

She'd fired up a video of Leonard Bernstein conducting an orchestra, in the former East Berlin. Christmas Day, 1989. The Berlin Wall had fallen, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was bringing the world together.

Happily ever after.

She lay on her bed, letting the third movement wash over her. Then, the chirp of an incoming call.

Danni? Three hours ahead, but still…?

She paused the famous concert, and slid on her glasses. Danielle Moran's face appeared on the screen. She looked as tired as Kara felt.

"Hey, Kara."

"Hey," Kara replied, without enthusiasm.

A sad smile came across the screen. "How you doin', kid?"

A shrug. "Oh, nothing like a falling _satellite_ to make your day."

Danielle nodded. "Yeah. About that _satellite_ , Kara…"

Oh. No.

"My boss woke me out of a sound sleep 25 minutes ago. Wanted to tell me first." She cleared her throat.

"The conference isn't happening, Kara."

She winced.

"Oh, it will. Somewhere. Just not National City."

Kara looked aside. "Danni, I'm so sorry."

Danielle waved a hand. "For what? Doing your job?" She suddenly beamed with pride. "You are…"

Caught. Kara's eyes widened, as Danielle glanced down. Clenched her jaw. Looked back to her, and whispered:

"Awesome."

They eyed at each other. Teared up. Kara knew, in a heartbeat, where Danielle was headed.

"She - ".

Kara softly cleared her throat. It was enough. A nod. And a cool look.

"So. What happens now?"

Kara slowly raised a finger. "I have an idea. Or two. Give me a few days. I WILL get back to you, Danni."

Danielle smiled, slowly. It had the warmth of a barracuda.

"Kara, I really… **really** hope this does not involve flying to Boston." Danielle paused for effect.

"Cuz last minute air fares? They're a real bitch."

They laughed. For a full half-minute. Caught their breath.

"No," Kara said. "Not today"…

Alex Danvers downed a couple of ibuprofen, with her green tea. The pain in her shoulder was lingering on.

Kara thought she was some world-class martial artist, who could lick anybody. Alex left a thing or two out of that picture.

The skills she'd learned, to defend herself? Her job. Not a calling.

Even those a lot better than her got hurt. All the time. Two days ago, it was her turn.

A lucky kick. Down she went, shoulder first.

She saw her own doctor, on her own time. No need for surgery, thank creation. But she'd need creative excuses for the next month, for not sparring with Kara.

Nobody at the DEO knew. With one exception.

" _Vasquez, I will personally waterboard you, if you tell Kara."_

" _With one good shoulder, ma'am?"_

" _Ha ha."_

She was looking up exercises, to do at home, when a knock came at her door.

Alex peered down the hall. "Kara?", she whispered.

"Yup."

She quickly closed the window on the tablet, and let her sister in. Silently thanked her, for not bringing sticky buns this time. Or hugging her.

Kara took up the offer of green tea. Held the glass up before her, as if peering into the very molecules.

She could. If she cared to.

"I won't keep you long. On your day off." She slowly downed the glass, and washed it in the sink.

"These last six months, Alex? People keep popping into my life. I think I've got them figured out. Until I don't. Henshaw. El grande jefe."

Alex blinked at that one.

"Is the DEO so different? They're just people. They change. They come and go. What if, a year from now, someone else is in charge? Someone who sees the DEO differently? Or J'onn? Or me? Or us?"

Kara saw the worried look on Alex's face. Dialed back the drama, and waved a hand.

"I just want a way to contact you. If worst comes to worst. And be sure nobody is listening in, taking notes." Alex nodded.

"I heard something once about cell phones. Brand new phone calls a brand new phone. Then give them away. Call is untraceable. Does that work?"

Something about this seemed familiar to Alex. Then it hit her.

"'The Sopranos', right?"

Kara rolled her eyes, as Alex tilted her head, in her best Steven Van Zandt impersonation. Minus the shrug.

"Talk on it once, you toss it. Totally untraceable. It's what the Taliban used to do."

"Yes, Silvio."

A smile. "Yeah, Dr. Melfi. It works"…

SATURDAY NIGHT

The chat session didn't take very long. Danielle mentioned to Kara how her roommate, a nurse, was away, helping an aunt.

 **AMS-GAL/92:** Patience of a saint. Poor kid. And she's got the crummy graveyard shift to look forward to, when she comes back. Hates it.

 **HERSCHEL-C/1750:** wow, you IM in complete sentences; what a relic

 **AMS-GAL/92:** LOL - time to turn in. G'night Kara

 **HERSCHEL-C/1750:** sweet dreams

Danielle shut the laptop. Turned to the fully charged phone on her bed. Read the note that came in the box, for the tenth time.

'one and done'

It rang. She answered.

"Nobody likes a smart ass, Kara."

"Huh? What are you - oh, gods. I'd forgotten. Ugh."

They both cracked up, for a bit. Then Kara got down to business.

"It's safe to talk, Danni. Pretty much. Just get rid of the thing, first chance you get. And let's not tempt fate. Don't…"

"Name names?," Danielle shot back.

"Yeah."

A pause.

"Hi."

"Hi."

They cried. Danielle focused on her breathing. And began.

"She gave me a choice, Kara." A beat.

"I will be happy to answer your questions. God knows I have a few of my own. And you know where that will be? Caswell State Forest, same as before."

"Danni - "

"Kara, if you show your face in Jamaica Plain, I am never speaking to you again."

"But…"

"Kara, if you don't agree to this, in the next ten seconds, I am never speaking to you again."

Eight seconds came and went.

Danielle heard a single word, spit out, over the line.

"Deal."

Five minutes later, Danielle was amiably chatting away, while looking up airfares on her laptop.

"I will look up my credit card bill. Next month. And cry"…

WEDNESDAY MORNING

At the American Meteorological Society, two mid-level managers stared out the window, onto the street below.

"Christ all mighty. Supergirl? Really? What the hell got into her?"

"Could have leveled National City. What could the police have done? The army?"

"There's rumors about some flying being or other, who stopped her. Who knows what to believe?" A shrug.

"Glad I'm in Boston. Lots of peace and quiet."

The janitor pushed his cart past them.

A nod. "Damn straight. Where do you want to get lunch?"

The janitor thought he heard something, inside the supply closet. Didn't he have the only key?

Opened the door, and in the dim light, Danielle Moran sat in the corner. Her face a mess, but a stubborn look on it as well.

"Are you…going to…tell anyone?", she whispered.

He stood ramrod straight. "No."

"Would you…give me a…few minutes?"

A nod.

"Gracias, Julio."

He shut the door.

She checked her watch. Gave her herself five. And sobbed.


	26. Chapter 26

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Donna checked her watch. It was 11:45PM in Boston. The sensible thing was to let the girl have a good night's sleep. Call her in the morning.

Because nothing says 'sensible' like having a friend. From another world. With godlike powers. And a fragile psyche, just now.

" _You're running on fumes, Kara. Let me call Danielle. Get your rest."_

 _The voice over the line sounded tired, but clear-headed._

" _I don't like it. You, getting involved. It's not safe."_

" _Says the one who almost gave me an express elevator ride yesterday."_

 _Donna couldn't believe what she'd just said. Was about to apologize, when she heard a snicker. A snort. And soft, but unmistakable laughter._

 _A sigh. "That wasn't you, Kara."_

" _So why do I think…some of it was?"_

 _No reply._

She dialed the phone by her bed. Donna had stashed the number in her strong box, 15 months ago. Just in case.

"Hello?" An uncertain tone.

"Danielle? Danielle Moran?", Donna asked.

"Who is this?"

Keep an even keel.

"I work with Kara, at Catco. My name is Donna Martinez."

A pause. "Donna…Kara…?"

"We spoke, briefly, when I did a background check on her, back in '14."

A pause. That lingered on.

"Danielle? You there?"

A long breath.

"Yes, I remember. Donna, could you - give me a moment?"

Someone with her? "Of course."

Something covered the receiver. Silence. Then, a short, high pitched laugh.

"Uhh, Danielle?"

She seemed more relaxed now. "Sorry. Tend to laugh. When I'm nervous."

"Oh, I've been there," Donna replied.

A lame intro's better than none at all.

"Kara's - been ill this week."

There was a sniff on the other line.

"Yeah. I heard."

Donna joined in. After a minute, they caught their breath.

"She has - a **lot** on her plate right now, Danielle. But she's thinking of you. Told me so, 20 minutes ago. Before I ordered her to bed."

A beat. "Oh."

"It's your call, but I gotta ask. Are you still coming, this weekend?"

She could almost hear Danielle smile.

"If I have to sit next to the Joker on a flight for six hours, I'll be there"…

They said their goodbyes, at last. Contact info had been swapped. Pictures e-mailed. Donna insisted that she crash at her place. Danielle, reluctantly, agreed. Said she'd break the bad news to the B&B in the morning.

Which she had. Twelve hours earlier. During lunch hour. Same with the airline.

Danielle set the phone down. Looked around the empty apartment. Closed her eyes.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are."

She felt, more than heard, someone enter the room. Danielle never thought the term 'frenemy' would mean anything to her.

Until she met Zatanna Zatara.

The magician stepped into view, at a leisurely pace, dressed in the same jeans and jacket as 45 minutes before. They eyed each other.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to keep you waiting so long, Zee."

A shrug. "No problem. Had time to practice a new card trick."

Danielle didn't look impressed.

"I saw that look, Danielle. I don't know who Donna is. I don't care to know. It's between the three of you."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is that so?"

"I never lied to you."

That - sort of? - made sense. She gave up. No point debating someone who beat the sphinx at riddles.

Danielle sighed. "Guess fate had a good laugh at me, tonight. Had you come all the way from San Fran, to tell me what I already know. At least Donna did it over the phone."

She shrugged. "Next time a damned near all-powerful being says she owes me, I'll plan ahead better. Feel like that 'Thief of Bagdad' - he blew a wish on sausages." Zatanna's smile was getting on her nerves.

"Maybe I can fly out to Nat City, by Montevideo", she mused, when Zee raised a hand.

"I'm not your personal jinn, Danielle. But…"

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Donna waited patiently, in a terminal of National City Airport, as passengers walked stiffly out the door with their luggage.

"Donna?" She turned to her left, and there stood Miss Moran, with her tiny carry-on bag.

"Danielle!" They shook. They hugged.

Didn't have that stale, airplane air clinging to her. More like - cut grass.

SUNDAY MORNING

The bus wound its way, slowly, to Caswell state forest. It would take about 25 minutes, according to the schedule Donna printed.

" _Just make your way to some quiet spot, Danni. I'll find you."_

 _You sure? Oh, duh."_

 _Laughter._

" _Is Donna…?"_

" _She'll - let you know."_

She had politely declined a ride in Donna's car. Wanted some time alone.

2014\. Kara had walked into Donna's office a job applicant. Walked out a daughter of Krypton. No memories were wiped that day.

Like to think Kara grew a little, in three years. Still, not very gracious of me. But there it is.

A woman got on board. As she made her way to the back, something clicked. Body language. Taking in every detail. Trying to seem casual. The tiniest bulge.

She's got a gun.

Plain clothes cop? Some other branch? The woman sat across the aisle from her. Looked at her. Didn't bother to hide it.

Danielle had had encounters with police since grade school. Came with being in a family of con artists. Knew her rights, Miranda or otherwise, and turned to her fellow passenger.

"May I help y-"

Her eyes widened.

"Hello, Danielle."

She slowly exhaled.

"Hello, Alex."

Eyes narrowed. Voice lowered.

"Or is it Agent Danvers?"

Kara's sister didn't seem the least bit surprised by this.

"Right now? It's a bit of both."


	27. Chapter 27

Alex glanced at the other three passengers on the bus.

"Only a mile or so from here, to the park entrance."

Danielle shrugged. They got off.

Alex watched the bus recede. "We've met before." She turned to Danielle.

"Moving day on campus, 2010."

Danielle nodded, and started towards the state forest, in her own good time.

"The day's kind of a blur," she began, as Alex matched her deliberate pace.

"I remember your mother, Eliza. Didn't ask what I wanted to do. Asked what I wanted to learn. Couldn't _remember_ the last time I heard that word. It meant something to me."

Alex smiled. And caught Danielle's look.

"Is there a…ride waiting for you, Alex? Or is that ticket a 2-way transfer?"

A nod. "Yes, someone is waiting. No, it's not Kara."

Nice day for a walk, at least.

 _Donna had swished out the last of her toothpaste. Met Danielle in the hall._

" _All your's."_

 _Even as she said it, she knew the girl was not waiting to floss her teeth._

" _Why didn't you tell someone?"_

 _A sigh._

" _Alex? Olsen? Someone who brings a bit more to the table than we do?"_

 _Donna snapped a finger. Danielle flinched, as Donna pointed a finger at her._

" _You tell this - to no one. Not Kara. Not your grandchildren on your deathbed. No one."_

 _Danielle rolled her eyes, and made an 'X' across her chest._

" _Cross my heart. Blah blah blah."_

Alex seemed content to enjoy the morning air. It didn't last long.

"Why are you here, Danielle?"

Short, and to the point. I owe her that much.

Danielle cleared her throat.

"After rooming with Kara a few months? I noticed things about her. Little things, that didn't add up. Until they did. I thought she was a metahuman."

She turned to face Alex. "Which I had no plans. To tell anyone. At all. It was her life. Then?" A shrug.

"Things really got weird." She looked aside. "If you want the play-by-play, ask Kara."

Alex nodded.

Danielle's eyes widened. "Y-you knew?"

Alex seemed thoughtful.

"Kara hardly said a word about life on campus, for months. Came home after finals, upset. Wouldn't talk about it. Just wanted to hit the road. Meant it, this time."

 _Eliza and Alex stepped into Kara's room. She put down her copy of 'The Brothers Karamazov'. Got up from the bed._

 _Eliza nodded. Kara sucked in a breath._

" _There's so much to see in this world, Kara. More than Midvale. More than a campus. Get out there."_

 _Kara swallowed them both up, in a hug as tight as she dared._

" _I love you both. So. Much."_

 _Alex looked out the window._

She eyed Danielle. "What changed? My mother and I - had our suspicions. But days turned to weeks. And the SWAT team never showed. So we left it there."

Danielle let slip a half-smile. She didn't get one in return.

"And we settled for postcards, e-mails and the rare phone call from Kara. For three years."

Danielle winced.

"Sprechen sie Deutsch?"

Uh oh.

 _Danielle was thankful to wrap up the phone call, with a researcher in Geneva. Between his middling English and her rusty high school German, she checked off another facility that globe-trotting scientist Alex Danvers didn't actually work for._

" _Danke."_

Danielle kept a steady gaze.

"I never asked about your real job, Alex. Just your fake one."

"That's nice. Why are you here, Danielle?"

Never did spell that out, did I?

"To ask about Krypton. Not Supergirl. Just curious about life on another world, is all. She wasn't ready for that, five years ago. She is now."

"You mean a week ago she was."

No reply.

Alex halted, and looked around the empty road.

"My sister. My friend. Saved my life. More than once. Would die to protect this city. This world."

She turned to face Danielle. "Six days ago? Some poison gets in her system." A breath.

"'All shall love me and despair'," Alex rolled her eyes. Danielle shuddered.

"Millions of people. In fear for their lives. For damned good reason. And Kara has to earn their trust, all over again."

Alex looked down the road. "And you think going over the family, the world, that she lost? That's just what she needs right now?"

Danielle eyes flickered. "I didn't…I mean…umm."

"It's a ten minute walk, from here to the park entrance. My partner Agent Vasquez is waiting in a car there." She turned back to Danielle.

"You have until then to make your case, Danielle. If I don't like what I hear? Well, Vasquez will be your travelling companion."

Danielle clenched her fists.

"The red eye leaves for Boston, at 11:30. Last two rows are booked, for just the two of you. Lots of privacy."

Alex paused, to let it sink in.

"I really hope this does not involve handcuffs and a taser, Danielle. If you're an ass about it. I leave that to her to decide."

Danielle glared at her.

"Kara saved my life, too," she almost hissed.

"I don't doubt it. But it doesn't answer my question. Are you what she needs, right now? You're a distraction, Danielle."

A beat.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're wrong."

Alex blinked.

"Christ, weren't you on the debate team?"…

 _Donna raised an open hand, to Danielle._

" _There's an unwritten rule, at Catco. If Kara…"_

 _She caught herself. Chuckled softly._

" _If_ _ **Supergirl**_ _pays a visit to Ms. Grant's balcony, to talk? Everybody gives them plenty of space. No selfies. No tweets. No questions about what they discussed."_

 _Danielle nodded._

" _But nobody seems to have thought of the fellow who empties the waste baskets."_

 _Danielle blinked._

" _He keeps me informed, if something unusual happens."_

 _Danielle titled her head._

" _Oh, like a flying, bullet-proof, god-like being from another world who consults with your boss? Nothing unusual there."_

" _Ha ha, Danni."_

" _You're spying on her."_

" _I'm keeping my ear to the ground."_

" _By spying on her."_

" _Whatever. Anyway, couple of months ago, my guy informs me that Supergirl and Ms. Grant were chatting in her office."_

" _Mmm hmm."_

" _And Kara walked in."_

 _Danielle's mouth slowly fell open._

" _Two of them spoke briefly. Shook hands. And the Maid of Might flew off."_

"" _W-what?"_

" _Kara. And Supergirl. In the same room. At the same time. With Ms. Grant. For her benefit, I'm assuming."_

 _Donna slowly shook her head, in amusement._

" _Took an act of willpower. Not to ask a third time."_

 _Danielle did her best 'Duck Dodgers' impersonation._

" _Who?! What?! How?!"_

" _Friends," Donna summed up, with a shrug._

" _Friends. Who can do that? And what do I bring, to that party?"_

 _Donna seemed to deflate. She sniffed._

" _I thought I would just muck things up, for Kara, if I butted in. Couldn't they see what I was seeing? Figure out what to do? Even for a…"_

 _She brushed back a tear._

" _God-like being's nervous breakdown?"_

 _Danielle put a hand on her shoulder._

" _Only human."_

(note: Donna's spy sees a scene from the end of the episode, "Blood Bonds")


	28. Chapter 28

Danielle plodded alongside Alex for a stretch. Looking down. Hands in her jacket pockets. Saying nothing.

Then paused, almost in mid-step. Viewed the empty road. The trees around them. Back to Alex. Checked her watch. And brightened up, somehow.

"Too bad," she mused. "Was hoping to see the inside of Maxwell Lord's cell. Or so I've heard."

Agent Danvers smiled.

"You and Vasquez will get along along fine. You're a good talker. She's a good listener."

Danielle shrugged. "I've got the floor." They started again, towards the state forest.

"You're right, of course," she began simply. "I'm not what she needs right now."

That turned Alex's head.

" **We** are, Alex. All of us. The ones with the best toys taxpayer dollars can buy."

Agent Danvers gave a _hint_ of a smile.

"The ones who try to keep her grounded. So to speak."

Alex seemed to be doing the math. Moving on…

"The ones who see this…amazing person. Doing impossible things. Just to help. And are happy to leave the rest of her life alone."

Danielle's turn now, for a hint of a smile.

"The ones with - tricks up their sleeve."

They eyed each other.

"And, God help me, Ms. Queen of All Media." Danielle rolled her eyes.

"Guess Kara needs her too. Never knew what she saw in Cat Grant. Until this week."

 _It seemed the whole department was gathered around the monitor. Danielle resigned herself, to seeing nothing but the tops of shoulders before her._

 _It was live footage, from the front of Catco HQ, the day after the 'episode'. Cat Grant had made a brief, bland statement to the press. Then, Danielle heard a barely audible voice, through the tinny speaker._

" _Ms. Grant, will you ever trust her again?"_

 _A pause._

" _That…would be nice." She got back into character a heartbeat later._

" _Now, I have things to attend to. A business to run. Facts to sort out. She knows where to find me."_

 _The AMS' copy editor let slip a grin. In spite of herself._

Alex smiled. "And all she had to do was fall 30 stories. Screaming. Waiting to die. And not take it personally."

A bit of a breeze was heard.

"Good one, Alex."

Alex slowly looked around them. Danielle ears caught on.

There hadn't been a breeze all morning.

A twig cracked.

She turned around.

"Let me guess," Alex said, behind her. "'The Departed', right? The whole, texting with the phone in your pocket bit?"

"It got laughs at parties," Danielle muttered. Someone was stepping through the woods, towards them.

"You should try it behind your back. Handcuffed to a wall. In a tank. Water up to your waist, and rising."

A figure with a backpack became visible, through the branches.

"Think I'll try that. Never."

And Kara Danvers stepped into the clearing, by the roadside. Looked from one. To the other. And back again.

"So. You two getting along?"

She held up the text on her phone, for both of them to read.

 **Danielle Moran: Alex deporting me - plz call her**

Danielle folded her arms. "Dude, I realize English is your 2nd language. But really? 'Call'? 'C-A-L-L'? It doesn't mean 'fly over and make everyone nervous'."

"Says the one who texted she was being kidnapped."

Alex raised a hand. "Yeah. About that. I lied"…

Minutes later, the three of them came within sight of a generic looking sedan in the parking lot. A woman sat inside.

"Agent Vasquez, I presume?" Danielle asked, rhetorically.

"That's her," Kara replied. "Not cool, what you did, Alex."

"A little adversity. A little pressure. Just wanted to see how she'd react. That's all."

Kara gave Danielle an 'are you OK with this?' look. Got a shrug in return.

"Think I'll check in on my co-worker," Kara said, and made for the parking lot without another word.

Alex and Danielle examined one another.

"So, did I pass the test, Agent Danvers?"

Alex seemed thoughtful. "The night before my 14th birthday, Kara said she had a surprise for me."

Danielle waited patiently, to see where this led.

"She took me flying."

 _Kara balanced easily on the roof of the porch. Alex glared at her from inside her bedroom, arms folded, going nowhere._

" _No."_

" _C'mon, Alex. I've practiced all week. Bag of flour. Sack of potatoes."_

" _Why don't you take up some eggs, then? They make a nice, big splat when they hit the ground, too."_

 _Kara smiled. "I'm not Lucy. You're not Charlie Brown. I'm not yanking the football away. And I'm not dropping you, Alex."_

 _She hovered, a foot above the roof._

" _It'll be so much fun"._

Danielle put up a hand, to feel her racing heart.

"Wow", she whispered.

Alex looked down, and smiled. "Felt like Wendy. Looking down on the roofs, the treetops, the lake. Great view. Of course there was, under a full moon."

Danielle cringed. "Oh. No."

A nod. "Caught. Lucky we weren't front page news the next day."

A slightly harder look, now. "She's not Peter Pan. You're not a Lost Girl. And we're not up against Captain Hook. Every day is a test, Danielle. From here on. Your life will never be the same."

Danielle nodded. "When I was nine, I heard of a man who could fly. Turned out he was real. I knew then, my life wouldn't be the same."

Alex seemed to mull it over. Turned towards the car in the distance. Kara and Vasquez stood beside it, shaking hands. The agent looked around, as if for eyewitnesses. And they hugged.

Alex turned back to Danielle. "Hope you have a pleasant stay."

Smiled. And silently mouthed,

"However you got here"…

" _Ma'am, what does DEO stand for?"_

 _Alex glared at Vasquez, trying to ignore the security footage playing on the monitor._

" _Are we talking literally, or metaphorically?"_

 _Vasquez turned to a different monitor, displaying a wealth of data, about one person in particular._

" _Danielle Moran. Copy Editor. American Meteorological Society. And five years ago? Miss Danvers' college roommate. Scheduled to arrive here, for a climatology conference. Postponed, after the 'incident', two weeks ago. Booked a flight, on her own dime, days later. Cancelled that, after the 'episode'. And at 12:05PM today, Miss Moran walks out of a chain pizzeria, at National City Airport."_

 _The footage played, on a continuous loop. She seemed just the slightest bit unsteady on her feet._

 _Vasquez continued. "Nothing to indicate she booked another flight. Nothing to indicate she caught a private plane. And oh, by the way," she turned to Alex._

" _Cameras show her walking out. Nothing shows her walking IN."_

 _Vasquez clicked, to show different footage now. It was Miss Moran, greeting a middle-aged woman outside the terminal, with a handshake. And a hug._

 _She turned back to Alex. "I don't know if she got here by Scotty's transport room, or Harry Potter's floo network, ma'am. Isn't it our job to identify threats?"_

 _Agent Danvers didn't flinch. "Kara does not see her as a threat. That is good enough for me."_

 _Vasquez didn't look moved. Alex sighed. "We are_ _ **just**_ _a little busy, right now, Vasquez. I leave it in your capable hands," she almost spit out._

 _As she walked away, she heard further typing, and mouse clicks._

" _Ma'am?"_

 _She slowly turned around. Stepped closer. And saw a whole new window appear on the screen._

 _DO YOU WISH TO DELETE?_

 _YES_

 _And it was gone. An arrest record for assault (some sleaze ripping off retirees). All that came before and after. All of it, gone with a click._

 _Alex took a deep breath. "You did the right thing, Vasquez."_

 _Agent Vasquez stood from her post. Her shift was over._

" _Did what? Goodnight." Smiled, and walked out…_

Kara and Danielle finally found a quiet, secluded spot, besides a boulder. No interruptions, this time. Until there was.

Danielle pulled out her buzzing phone.

"Can't believe I didn't shut it off."

Her eyes widened. She held up the phone to Kara.

 **Donna Martinez: Can I fix supper for you two?**

Kara sniffed. "I'm free. Are you?"


	29. Chapter 29

Danielle was wrapping up the call, when Kara waved a hand.

"Oh, she wants a word, Donna," and handed the phone over. The big boulder loomed over them.

"Hi. Forgot. What can we bring?"

Danielle smiled. She couldn't quite make out the words. But could tell that Donna was sputtering. Just a little.

"Hey, a guest doesn't show up empty handed. My mother taught me that."

Which begged the question.

"Both of them," Kara said softly.

Danielle eyed the ground. Heard Kara sniff.

"I…heh. Kind of feel like a jerk right now, Donna. Telling Danni my story. And you've been waiting for the same thing."

Danielle turned to her, and nodded. No need to ask.

"Can we - come a bit early?"

Kara held the phone up to her ear. She just barely heard…

"I'd like that, Kara. I'd like that very much."

"That. And cookies."

Laughter.

 _Alex fingered a photo in the album. Jeremiah, Eliza and herself stood in front of an 80 foot waterfall._

" _Laurel Falls," she said, in a raspy voice. "Our last day in Great Smoky Mountains. April vacation. Came and went."_

 _She reached for her water bottle. Empty, of course. Sighed, and turned to the one seated on the couch with her._

" _The next two months? Pretty quiet. That's Midvale, for you. Then Thursday morning comes, and you land on our doorstep."_

 _Alex eyed the pile of photo albums on the floor. Looked down at the one in her lap._

" _We used to think we were the center of the universe. The planets? The stars? They all revolved around us."_

 _She shut the album. Added it to the pile on the floor. Looked at the 'girl' who now slept in their guest room._

" _Small world. Planet Earth. Some of it's ugly. And some of it is beautiful. You will see it. For yourself."_

 _Alex smiled._

" _Kara Zor-El."_

" _I…hope…so."_

 _Her eyes widened._

" _Thank…you…all-eggs."_

 _Alex could swear she could read Kara's expression. It seemed to say, "How was that?"_

 _She brushed back a tear._

" _Alex. Close enough."_

Kara and Danielle paused, in the middle of a winding trail.

"A day or two later? I could follow a conversation. Pretty much." Kara smiled to herself.

"Of course, it took a bit before anyone could follow mine. It was a running gag, at the Lion's Den. Whole month of August - 'What kind of accent is that'?"

"Lion's Den?", Danielle asked.

"THE place to go in Midvale, for burgers and shakes."

Danielle shuddered. "And this was a good idea? What if you ripped the front door off?"

"Oh, I got that out of my system, back home."

Danielle snorted.

"Anyway, I was going stir crazy, after two months. Just wanted to learn about a whole other…world." Kara's voice cracked.

"Just…like…you."

Danielle's eyes welled up. She pocketed her glasses.

"It was a damned selfish thing to do, Danni."

"Kara…"

"I should have told Zee to get lost. Should have answered every question you had."

"Kara…"

"It's no excuse. There is no excuse. I just wanted a - "

"A little time. And space," Danielle whispered.

Kara blinked.

"That's how Zatanna put it, Kara."

" _I think you both need it, right now, Danielle."_

The two of them took a breather. Collected their thoughts.

"Funny, isn't it?", Danielle mused. "'You don't have to tell me anything'. Really means, 'Please tell me everything'."

They grinned. Then, Danielle's face fell.

"I would have picked your brains clean, Kara. Like ripping off a scab. And we would have **both** been miserable."

Danielle looked her in the eye.

"She asked me, Kara. Didn't fast talk me. Trick me. Bully me. She **asked** me. I know the difference." A shrug.

"So, I let some damned near all-powerful magical being in fishnets scramble my memories. Just temporary, after all."

That cracked them up. Danielle rolled her eyes.

"We talked about it, on some - astral plane thingie. It was…almost gentle." A smile.

"Her doing, of course. My head would have gone splat, if not for her."

Kara nodded. And caught Danielle's look.

"You…don't seem very surprised by this."

She cleared her throat.

 _Kara looked from Zatanna, to Danielle, and back again. Both with eyes shut. Their minds far, far away from a dorm room right now. Her roommate floated, six inches, above a well-worn carpet._

"Two hearts beating as one? It's a crummy song lyric, Danni. Until it happens right in front of you."

 _Everything about the two relaxed suddenly. The magician opened her eyes. Without missing a beat, she leaned in to the girl's ear._

 _Eyes still closed, Danielle smiled._

"I figured there was some…private conversation going on."

" _Notpyrk. Annataz. Tegrof", she whispered._

They cried. Hugged. Emptied their water bottles. Danielle seemed to examine it.

"Huh. No wonder you have the place to yourself, Kara. Water fountain's broke, and the ladies room is locked up."

"It's a state forrest, Danni. It's not Yosemite."

"Good thing. You start flying around the National Parks in your civies, someone will notice."

They laughed. And Danielle looked up, past the branches above…

Kara stared ahead, from the back of the rumbling bus. The ride reminded Danielle of a coal cart she rode, once, at a mining museum.

"About five minutes, until we get to Donna's place," Kara reported. She turned to her friend from out of town. "She's by the stop. Waiting for us."

Danielle smiled. Looked down at the box of cookies in her lap. Took Kara's hand.

Five nights earlier…

 _Donna had a pass to the Kahn Gallery, just three blocks from work. Gave it 40 minutes, and called it an evening._

 _Of course they'll figure it out. Won't they?_

 _Pulled out her car keys, as she crossed the plaza in front of Catco HQ._

 _Was that a…scream?_

 _She couldn't place where it came from, until she could. Up above._

 _Donna looked up. Saw only empty sky. Heard a soft thud nearby._

 _Looked back down. And there they were._

 _Kara - boots, cape and all. Cat Grant, sprawled on the sidewalk. Looking up at her. In terror._

 _Donna dropped the keys. Sounded like a gunshot to her._

 _Only caught the last few words Supergirl spoke to her boss._

"… _don't ever call me again."_

 _The air seemed to explode, as she roared into the night sky._

 _Donna forced her legs to move. She bent down to the 'Queen of All Media'._

" _Ms. Grant. Are you all right?"_

 _Cat Grant was breathing hard, but didn't seem injured._

" _I - think - so."_

 _Donna helped her to her feet. Her mouth hung open, for a second._

" _Wha - what has gotten into her? What do we do?"_

 _Cat Grant blinked, and looked at her. Only a few seconds. Felt like more._

" _I don't know, Donna. But there's nothing you can do for her now."_

" _Go home," she said softly._

 _A nod._

Danielle and Alex got off the bus, in front of Donna's small but tidy home. There she stood, as promised.

Donna and Kara eyed each other. Then Kara raised a hand.

"Oops," she said, as she took the cookies from Danielle. And offered them to their host.

Donna took them. Glanced at the box. Looked up at Kara.

"La Espiga Bakery?"

Gave a small smile.

"It's a start."


	30. Chapter 30

Donna laid the cookies on her kitchen counter. Wondered how to politely ask Miss Moran to give them some privacy.

"Think I'll catch up on 'Serial'," Danielle said suddenly. And was gone.

Donna looked over her glasses at Kara, as if to say, 'Doesn't miss much, does she?'

Kara gave a hint of a smile. It didn't last long. She cleared her throat.

"Donna, I know how you feel about - 'details'. But…"

"Some poison got in your system. Your friends helped you out," she replied simply.

Kara blinked. "How did y-, who did y-?"

Donna raised a hand.

"Thursday afternoon? Had time to decompress. Something about the craziness Tuesday seemed…familiar. Looked up some _Planet_ articles from four years ago. There it was. Between the lines."

Kara mulled it over. "Huh."

They eyed each other.

"A week ago," Donna began. "I call up my friend. Ask if she can spare a few minutes, from saving the city, to talk to me. And she says yes."

Her voice grew hoarse. "She's like that."

Pain seemed to ripple through her. Kara didn't flinch.

Donna stepped closer. "Five nights ago? She gives my boss a skydiving lesson. Without a parachute."

Kara winced.

Donna brushed back a tear. "Her friends help out. In ways I never could. And I'm feeling _just_ a bit useless. Not fair, to them. But there it is."

She took a step back.

"I want to help you. I want to know you. **Do** I know you?"

Kara nodded. "A little."

She eyed the floor. "I want to know you."

She sniffed. "Donna, can we…?"

Kara caught that smile.

They hugged. Cried.

 _Donna had had enough of serious, thought-provoking spy stories for one week. Headed to the library, for lighter fare. Heard a snatch of conversation, by the front door:_

" _Will you trust her, after this?"_

 _No reply._

' _North By Northwest'. Eureka! Just like being friends with Kara._

 _Nerve-wracking. Funny. And never, ever dull._

 _The phone rang. Just as Cary Grant makes an ass of himself, at the auction. She paused the DVD._

" _Hello?"_

"… _Hi."_

 _Thank God I never got caller ID._

"… _Hi," she managed, barely._

 _Heard a sniff._

" _Donna - I am so, so, sorry."_

 _Her eyes welled up._

" _It's OK. It'll be OK…"_

Kara lapped up handfuls of water from the tap, before shutting it off. Dried off her face with a dish towel.

"I could drink Crater Lake dry," she muttered.

"We'll do our best."

They both turned to see Danielle retrieve a 12 pack of beer, from a cabinet below.

"So…'Serial'. Season One, or Two?", Kara asked.

"Like you care," Danielle cheerfully shot back, as she hoisted the bottles onto the table.

Danielle seemed to notice something about the beer. Snapped her fingers.

"Donna! You forget to put the suds in the fridge."

Donna gave a shrug. "Sorry. Forgot." Kara peered over Danielle's shoulder.

"You know, guys? There's plenty of ice in the freez-."

Danielle raised a finger, in full righteous 'fury'.

"Well I, for one, am not hearing about life, in the far-flung reaches of space, over a lukewarm beer, madam."

Fell for it. Completely. Kara smiled. Rolled her eyes.

Donna sadly shook her head. "If **only** we had some way to cool them down. Quickly."

Kara nodded. Lifted a bottle, to examine it.

"Yes," Danielle concurred. "That would be…"

"Super," Kara added, helpfully. She offered the bottle a promise:

"I'll go easy on you."

Twisted the bottle, and blew gently on it. Frost formed. The air steamed around it.

The three sat on the carpet. Leaning back against Donna's couch. Cold beers in hand. Kara's backpack lay at her feet.

She raised a hand.

"I'm sorry, guys. I have to ask. What, exactly, have you told each other? How you found out, about me?"

Neither seemed surprised.

"Well, Donna interviewed you for a job."

"Danni was your roommate, freshman year."

Kara looked from one, to the other, and back again.

"That's about it."

"Yup."

She kissed each one on the cheek. Took each one by the hand. Sighed with relief.

"Rao's blessings on you both."

Laughter.

Kara eyed the backpack.

"I haven't told this story in a long time. You've both been waiting, for a long time. You've both been so patient, with me. I'll never forget that."

She reached into her backpack.

"It's here. Somewhere…"


	31. Chapter 31

Danielle and Donna tensed up, as Kara reached inside her backpack. She pulled out a framed, 4X6 photo.

"Oh, Jeez," Danielle said, in recognition.

Donna waited patiently, to be let in on the joke. Kara nodded, and handed it to her.

"Kara hung this on the dorm room wall," Danielle explained. Donna held it up, for closer examination.

A dark haired girl of 18 or so. The wind whips her graduation gown. She holds onto her cap. Kara is in her glasses, hair flying in the breeze, 16-ish. She grips her sister's shoulders, as if she'll blow away. Both smile, proudly. A banner in the background reads, 'CONGRATS MIDVALE HIGH GRADS, CLASS OF 2007'

"Alex," Donna said, simply.

Kara produced another photo, from the pack. No frame, this time. Donna and Danielle almost squealed with delight.

A small, terribly young looking Kara stands with Alex, in front of some trees.

"Look at you!"

"You're so tiny!"

"You look so cute, togeth-"

They both caught on, by then. In the Danvers' girls' posture, their expressions. The space, between them.

"First picture ever taken of me, on the good Earth."

Kara took her time, looking at the photo.

"It wasn't easy, for her. Alex could grind her teeth. Cry into her pillow. But she'd be there, the next morning. Hiking in the woods, telling how her parents met, through a research project. Seemed…familiar."

Kara turned to her host. "Donna, could you - close the blinds? Lock the door? Please?"

Donna let slip a nervous giggle. And did so.

Kara pulled out something inside a cloth sack. Unwrapped what looked like a crystal shard. The two 'office drones' stared at it. She laid it on the carpet.

"A data storage device. Sort of a Kryptonian thumb drive. Nothing toxic to humans." She gestured to it. They each gingerly picked it up. And quickly put it back down.

"The data, in this case? My family." Kara spoke something…

Not unintelligible.

Otherworldly.

Soft light seeped through the crystal. The light formed three small figures above. It focused, into a man, woman and child. Their daughter.

Formal. Poised. And yet, not stiff. Proud of one another, just then.

Donna, and Danielle, blinked back tears. Kara eyed the hologram, steadily.

"I am a survivor of the planet Krypton. A daughter of the House of El. My mother was called Alura. My father was called Zor."

She looked back at her friends.

"Kara Zor-El. That is me."

Danielle didn't have much reaction, to the last bit. But Donna slowly tilted her head.

"Your name's Kara?"

Her co-worker smiled, and nodded.

"It is."

It didn't help.

"Your name's… **Kara?** "

The daughter of Krypton playfully rolled her eyes. Danielle snorted.

"Donna, I swear to you, on my sacred honor. That is the name my family gave me. Kara Zor-El."

Donna silently laughed, and buried her face in her hands. A performance, but not entirely.

"Oh…. **God** , I am so sorry, Kara." She shook her head, and looked up to her friend.

"It doesn't make a damned bit of sense. Names. Families. Hell, you can find 'Kara' in a baby names book!" They cracked up.

"Why are we so much alike?" Donna smiled. "I don't mean nose, cheeks and forehead." She shrugged. "Well, that too. I guess."

Kara nodded. "My parents. My aunt and uncle. They asked the same questions. I don't really have an answer. But I know this."

She gracefully got to her feet. Stepped around the backpack, and sat down to face them.

"As a child, I heard tales of peoples beyond Krypton. However strange to me, they all shared something. Hope. In the darkest corner, the darkest time, they would find hope."

She reached into the pack again. A rustle of fabric. Danielle sunk her face in her hands. Softly laughed.

"No."

And out came the uniform. Boots, cape and all. Donna smiled, and shook her head again, as Kara laid it out on the floor.

"Not very smart, Kara."

"I know," she admitted. And pointed to the 'S'.

"This is the symbol of my family. It means 'hope'." She looked back to them.

"Five days ago?" Her voice cracked. "Hope was some relic I'd outgrown. Four days ago? It was something I'd lost." She smiled at both of them.

"You helped me find it again." Danielle and Donna sniffed.

"You. And Alex. And someone I wish I could tell you about. A…friend."

Danielle snuck a glance at Donna. Caught. She looked back at a wide-eyed Kara. Heard Donna sigh.

"Not very smart, Kara."

She nodded, embarrassed. Danielle smiled, and raised a hand.

"We shall speak of this no more." They grinned.

"Moving on", Kara continued. "Here's where I sum up 100,000 years of Kryptonian history in ten minutes."

Donna looked over her glasses at her. Danielle fired up the stopwatch feature of her timepiece.

"You're on."

Kara was as good as her word. She wrapped it up, thusly.

"And now, the moment you've been waiting for."

The last image of the crystal showed a 12 year old Kara, cradling a baby boy, looking down at him in delight.

"My cousin."

Donna and Danielle stared at it, mouths agape.

Danielle said what they both thought: "It's him. But…how?"

Kara looked thoughtful. "I will get to that. I promise. It's just…guys, 'cousin' gets monotonous. 'Superman' is a job title. Can I tell you his - Kryptonian name?"

The two looked at each other. And slowly nodded.

"Kal-El."

Each one rolled the name over her tongue. This amazing person, who started out so small. And fragile.

"Kal-El."

"Kal-El."

Kara broke the solemnity.

"I used to change his diapers"…

The end came quickly. To her story. To her world.

They sobbed. Hugged. Donna and Danielle splashed water on their faces. Caught their breath. Eyed their friend.

"Limbo," Donna said, half to herself.

Danielle seemed almost amused. "I thought the numbers didn't - add up."

An awkward silence. Donna broke it.

"Care to help me with supper?"

Kara tackled the mango and cheese salad. Danielle sliced up the sweet potato, for the fries. Donna prepared the refried bean enchiladas, and eyed the salsa chicken, in the slow cooker.

Kara mentioned her travels in West Bengal, while setting out the plates. Darkness had fallen outside.

"I asked for their hottest dish. 'Phaal Curry', they said. I took a big scoop, like it was ice cream or something."

They held their breath.

"So, when I'm dealing with some forest fire, some burning building, I tell myself, 'Could be worse. Could be Phaal Curry'."

They bent over laughing.

A minute later, Kara seemed to examine the calendar on the wall. Peered at it. Stared at it.

And slowly exhaled. She turned to her mystified friends.

"Ms. Grant. She's back at her office."

Donna was all business. Explained there was a window upstairs. Overlooked her small back yard. Not a lot of tree cover. But some. Started turning off lights and appliances. Made her way gingerly upstairs, Kara behind, uniform draped over her shoulder. Awkwardly waved to Danielle, who stayed just outside the kitchen.

And was surprised to see Donna come back two minutes later.

"You're not seeing her off?"

Danielle could only make out a tilt of the head, in the dim light.

"She'll manage."

A breeze shot up outside. And was gone.

Danielle turned back to the kitchen.

"Smells good"…

Thirty five minutes later, Danielle was deleting the old e-mails on her phone. Donna was paying her credit card bill. A floorboard upstairs squeaked. A two second whirlwind. And Kara Danvers stepped down to greet them.

"Didn't want to wear out me welcome."

Smiles.

 _Danielle looked up to the tops of the branches. And back to Kara._

 _They seemed to have Caswell State Forest to themselves._

" _What's it like to fly?"_


	32. Chapter 32

"Do you have to sleep, Kara?"

"I like to sleep."

Danielle sighed.

"Do you have to eat, Kara?"

"I like to eat."

"Give it up, Danni," Donna advised. "She can do this all night."

Danielle clicked her tongue. And nodded.

Kara drained the tea from her mug. Looked down on the dirty plates covering the table.

"Which…we don't have."

Kara turned to Danielle. "Four hours from now? You'll be standing in line, with a boarding pass."

Danielle kept a steady gaze. "That's the flight I booked."

Kara looked at them both.

"I don't know when, if, this is gonna happen again. Feel like I know so little about you. Any…family stories you can tell me?"

Danielle shrugged.

"Why does the hero of Nat City want to hear about my law-abiding family?"

Donna caught the sarcasm. "Well, my people were sticking it to la tira before Mexico was a thing."

And off they went. Each trying to top the other family's run-ins with the police. Kara soaked it all in.

Two hours later, the three of them sat on the floor again, backs against the couch. The uniform, draped over a chair. The 'S', waiting patiently.

Kara looked thoughtful.

"Feel like I gypped you. You wanted to hear about home. And I barely scratched the surface."

Donna waved a hand. Danielle looked aside. But Kara was onto something.

"I hope, wish, the day will come. When National City can go a few days. A week. Two? Without some crisis falling in our lap. When Supergirl isn't needed."

She looked at each, in turn.

"There is a place. Far from prying eyes. A bit of Krypton. Right here, on Earth. You wouldn't have to hear me jaw on. You could see it, for yourselves."

She looked at the crest of the House of El. And smiled.

"It would be an honor. To take you there."

Donna smiled, and slowly pointed a finger to her forehead.

"I've got enough secrets in here for two lifetimes. Don't think my back's up for the trip, either." She laid a hand on Kara's shoulder.

"Thank you. But no."

They both heard a sniffle. Kara turned, and saw Danielle brush back a tear.

"Could you - give me a minute?"

Kara nodded. Took a swig from the last bottle of beer.

"Okay."

They eyed each other. And laughed.

Danielle shook her head. "Not cheap being your friend, Kara."

Kara took another swig.

"Now I have to take skydiving lessons, too."

A fine spray of beer went all over Donna's carpet. It missed the suit.

"Dude!", Kara sputtered. "You can leave the parachute at home! I won't drop you."

Donna awkwardly got to her feet. Danielle gave another shrug. "You don't puke on Supergirl's cape."

Donna reappeared in the doorway, a roll of paper towels in hand. "Ahem."

After the onetime roommates cleaned up the spill, Donna suddenly had an observation:

"Since you brought it up"…

 _Donna noticed Kara, glancing at the door._

" _So, see you around?"_

 _Donna shrugged. "I'm always around."_

 _Kara kissed her on the cheek. Pulled out her glasses, as she headed for the exit._

" _What's it like to fly?"_

 _She halted. Turned around. Smiled._

" _Inches from a clean getaway."_

 _Donna grinned, and nodded. Back into the pocket went the glasses._

" _A month ago, I thought I knew." Kara seemed to relish the memory._

" _I could smell it. Taste it. And…Jordan in his prime had more hang time than me." Donna snorted._

 _Kara stepped to the handrail, and looked to the bottom of the stairwell, far below._

" _I saw that plane circling. That engine, on fire. I stopped thinking about it, and just did it."_

 _She turned back to Donna. "So, yeah. I do a lousy job telling you, Donna." She smiled._

" _But I can…" Donna held up a hand._

" _I will see you do that under the sun, or moon. Not a crummy light bulb. Helping someone. Not putting on a show for me."_

 _A nod._

Donna stuck her hands in her pockets. Eyed the floor.

"I guess. I wouldn't mind. A little show. For me."

She looked up. "Kara, would you…?"

Her friend help up a hand.

"On one condition."

Donna slowly exhaled. Danielle stifled a laugh.

Donna glared at her. It just got worse.

"You go first."

An unbearably smug air came over Danielle. Donna rolled her eyes.

"Gee…why didn't I think of that?"

 _This time. Definitely. Maybe._

 _Danielle loosened her laces. Straightened up. Sniffed. And watched her hands tremble._

" _Heh. Only wondered what it would be like. Since I was nine years old."_

 _Kara sighed. "Danni, there's a hiker. He'll pass by here in about four minutes."_

 _Danielle looked up, and pointed to a spot on the tree about 10 feet up. "The branch'll do."_

Donna and Kara held each other, in an awkward embrace.

"We're good?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

A sigh. "Just get this over w-"

A top-of-the-roller-coaster screech.

"Okay."

" **YOU BASTARD!"**

 _Danielle hurt her fingers, clinging to Kara's shoulders, so tightly._

" _OhgodIhopeIdon'tpassoutagainthatwouldreallybeembarrassing!"_

" _Take a breath."_

 _She did so. "That helps", she whispered. She loosened her grip. Let her feet dangle._

Donna shut her eyes, as the floor slipped away. And opened them.

"Ohhh! Santo Dios!" She roared with laughter.

Kara's voice came, muffled, from her shoulder.

"Donna, I don't broadcast this to everyone, but I do have to breathe."

"Sorry", Donna said weakly, as she slid her hand from the back of Kara's head.

 _A hiker made his way past the tree, earbuds drowning out the world._

 _45 seconds later, a sneaker dropped from the sky. And another. And laughter._

Donna closed her eyes, feeling them slowly spin, a foot beneath the ceiling.

Seated on the floor, their friend sighed. The greatest picture she'd never get to take.

 _Danielle balanced on one foot. Kara's, that is. Reached out, to touch the leaves of a branch, 100 feet in the air. Like them._

Donna cleared her throat. Kara stopped the merry-go-round.

"Don't take this for granted. Miss Kara Zor-El."

Kara held Donna at arm's length, to get a better look at her.

"I don't. I hope I never do."

A smile. "Good." A nod. And down they went.

 _Danielle's knees trembled, as her sock feet made a soft landing in the grass. She held onto Kara's arm, until it passed._

" _Huh. Gravity."_

They hugged, as the 10PM bus appeared on the horizon, to take Danielle to the airport.

"Gods! Forgot!", Kara exclaimed, as she pulled out one last item, from her backpack. And presented a grocery bag, full of her clothes, to Danielle.

"That whole 'never show your face in J.P.' thing, is that permanent?"

A smile. "Just give me some warning." The doors opened. "Take care, Kara, Donna." And was gone.

She got off, two miles away. A dark, quiet spot. And rang a number on her cel.

"I'm all your's, Bellatrix."

A voice squawked through the phone.

"Hmmm. Is that the thanks I get? For saving you $2000 on airfare?"

Footsteps echoed. A woman stepped out of the shadows. Phone still to her ear. White vest, coattail jacket, and fishnets - no jeans, this time.

"I might drop you off a mile from home, for that."

Danielle's eyes narrowed.

"Kara's friend. The one who saved the cops from - **her** the other night. Her friend's locked up. Some galactic Alcatraz, word has it. And you're not here for any jail breaks, are you?"

Zatanna Zatara shook her head. "Things have to play out, Danielle. Her friend has help, as is."

"Thought no one's fate was written."

A smile. "Best guess."

Danielle sighed. "Yeah." And closed her eyes. "Thanks."

The Mistress of Magic extended a hand.

"Ot Aciamaj Nialp!"

Twenty seconds after the flash subsided, Zatanna heard a sound above her.

A throat clearing.

She looked up, admiringly, as Kara floated gently down, still in her civies and glasses.

"Hello, Zee."

"Hello, Kara. It's been a long time."

"I heard what you said."

"You were supposed to"…

'Hank Henshaw' took his time, opening up his package of Chocos cookies. Savored the first one. And smiled at the DEO agent, on the other side of the bomb-proof glass.

"I was saving it. For a special occasion."

Alex smiled. Nodded. And closed her eyes.

 _J'onn_

 _Can you hear me?_

 _Of course you can_

 _You are my friend, J'onn_

 _And I am getting you out of here_

 _I'd rather it be legal_

 _By force, if I have to_

 _Friends bring that out, in each other_

 _A light, a strength_

 _That wasn't there before_

 _I am your friend,_

 _J'onn J'onzz_


	33. Loose Ends

OCTOBER 2015

Danielle, and her roommate, had a morning ritual.

Esther worked as a nurse, at a local hospital. She'd come home from the night shift, as Danielle was drying her hair. They'd catch up on their comings and goings, over bowls of cereal.

Before heading off to work, she and Esther would bid farewell as follows:

"Good morning."

"Good night."

It worked well.

She knew something was off that morning, after seeing two empty bowls on the counter. Esther sat on their couch, glued to her laptop.

Danielle came so close to making some crack about gossipy websites. And saw Esther brush back a tear.

She showed her a grainy picture of a jetliner afloat on a river. Police boats were ferrying people to shore. A well-lit bridge appeared in the distance. The headline read:

747 Makes Water Landing In National City;

Avoids Catastrophic Collision With Bridge;

All 279 Aboard Safely Evacuated;

Passengers Claim Woman On Wing 'Flew' From Scene;

NTSB Says Investigation Ongoing

Esther and Danielle eyed one another.

"Remember when I was a kid," Esther said softly. "Something that reporter asked **him** \- 'Are there more at home like you?'"

The LPN let slip a nervous giggle.

"Guess there is."

 _When she is ready for that? I think, she will be ready for you_

Danielle looked from Esther, to the screen, and back again. Blinked. And slowly headed for the phone. Dialed her boss, with all deliberate care.

"Kate, it's Danni. I have to take the morning off. Have to take care of something. Something I - forgot."

Danielle stepped inside Jamaica Plain's Arnold Arboretum, a minute after opening. Picked a quiet spot in the shade. Admired the beautiful trees all around. And let in a certain weekend on campus, from four years before. The real weekend, this time.

It didn't take long.

She teared up. A little.

My roommate. Daughter of Krypton. So many questions. And I let some damn near all-powerful magician make me forget that. To give Kara 'a little time and space'.

And she was right.

Yeah. I'm angry. It'll pass.

So proud of you, Miss Geek from Outer Space.

She took out her personal cup. Looked forward to toasting Kara's heroics, with a long, leisurely coffee and muffin.

And in person?

Her eyes widened. She rang her boss.

"Kate. Hi. The climatology conference. It's still in Nat City in March, right?"

That settled, she added a new contact to her phone. Under 'Z'…

Nine months later, a humid air hung over the entrance to Caswell State Forest. It was 1AM, as two figures faced each other.

The one in red boots peered up, into the night sky. "Haven't slept under the stars in a long time," she mused.

"Two weeks. I'll be back in - ".

"So you keep saying," Alex playfully interrupted.

"Kara, I wish I knew more about Cadmus," she continued. "But I know what they're not."

She eyed her sister.

"They're not a bunch of thugs, lashing out at every opportunity. They're planning their next move." She smiled.

"Seems a good time for a world tour to me."

Kara laughed. They hugged.

"They operate in shadows. So do your thing in the light. Supergirl"…

Friday morning, a week later. Esther shielded her eyes, from the beam of light that found its way into their kitchen.

"Used to that bright thing in the sky, yet?", Danielle enquired.

"Getting there." Esther had taken the week off. Her new 9-5 job started Monday.

"Hmm. Wish I knew who told the lab about me. Someone out West, supposedly. Like I know anyone out there."

Danielle tried not to grin.

"So, when's your flight?", Esther asked.

"It leaves for Calgary tomorrow. Twelve-ish."

The small talk was over.

"Shall we?"

"Yes. We shall."

They raced to their laptops. Danielle's preferred entry?

'Supergirl world tour'

"Ireland. Saved a Coast Guard helicopter," Danielle announced.

"Paris. Saved a rhino. From poachers. In a zoo," Esther reported.

Danielle jaw dropped.

"Damn. You go first."

 _The poacher had the white rhino's head in his sights. The horn would fetch top dollar, on the black market._

 _His partner checked the power saw, as he pulled the trigger._

 _A blur of red and blue. He looked up. And there stood the Maid of Might. A spent round in her palm, still smoking. She didn't look impressed._

 _The bullet dropped to the ground. As did the rifle. And the power saw._

" _Parlez-vous francais?", she asked. They nodded._

 _Supergirl made a temporary fix of the cage door. Spoke softly, to the frightened creature. It never occurred to them to run._

 _She wrapped an arm around each poacher. And peered through the zoo wall._

 _"Ah, a gendarme, six blocks from here. I'll show you the Eiffel Tower some other time."_

 _The two gasped, and clung to her arms, as she slowly took off._

 _"In eight to ten, perhaps?…"_

Esther did the math. "So, she saves the rhino. Nabs the bad guys. Has the City of Light at her feet. And four hours later she's in the west of Ireland? For what?"

Danielle shrugged.

 _The Coast Guard pilot flexed a trembling hand, and looked around the tiny island. A smashed tail rotor. A landing pad. A darkened lighthouse. She didn't care to peek over the steep rock walls, to the Atlantic, 70m below._

 _She'd seen it._

 _Her three crew mates. Supergirl, asking one of them about his sore neck._

 _Did she just -_ _ **apologize**_ _? After saving their lives? The Girl of Steel stepped closer. The trembling stopped._

" _How are you, Captain?"_

 _The pilot examined the damage to her aircraft._

" _Pride's a little hurt." She took a good look at her rescuer. So young._

" _It took…twenty seconds? Ma'am, if I may - how did you know?"_

 _Supergirl looked past the pilot's red hair._

" _I was settled in. Speck of an island, about 10k from here." She pointed past her shoulder._

" _Listening to the breeze. The puffins. The search and rescue mission. I turned to look, and saw the impact."_

 _A look of recognition came over the pilot._

" _Settled in. For the night. To - sleep?"_

 _Supergirl kept a steady gaze._

 _The captain raised a hand._

" _Not a word."_

 _The one in the cape smiled. And looked further out to sea._

" _The fisherman's on the other chopper. I hear another one, from the mainland. Coming for you."_

 _The pilot sniffed, and put forth a hand._

" _Thanks…"_

After trading stories with Esther, Danielle had an errand to run. She left a back pack full of clothes on the roof of her building, at the agreed upon time. Not that residents were given access. It was good practice.

She shut the door to the roof behind her. And ten seconds later, heard a knock.

"Hi," came a muffled voice. "Don't really have anything to pick the lock with."

Danielle felt as slow as a slug, racing to open the door.

"Usually just tear them off, myself."

She flung it open, and found Kara Danvers standing there. Glasses, just a little askew. In jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, that looked very wrinkled. And hot. Her working clothes were in the back pack. Presumably.

Danielle smirked. "I'll show you our famous thrift shop. You can pay me later."

In her new summer attire, Kara noisily sucked the last drop of her J.P. Licks milkshake. Her sunglasses reflected the wall, surrounding the Arboretum.

"I read about the zoo, Kara. And the chopper", Danielle said. "You can catch some Z's back at the apartment, if you'd like."

Kara waived a hand. "Slept a few hours on Belle Isle. But thanks."

"Oh," Danielle summed up. She looked up, at the canopy over them.

"Well, it's not the Black Forest. Or the Amazon. But it's home."

Kara followed her gaze up.

"Mmm. Think I'll run my fingers through those branches. Tonight. When no one's looking."

A leaf landed on her.

No, just felt like it.

"Don't you dare!", Danielle yelled, as she clung to her back, feet kicking the air.

They walked in silence, for a stretch. Danielle had run out of things to say, about the Arboretum, or work. She didn't grill Kara for details, about the 'tour'.

Danielle paused in mid-step.

"Ah, that bench. I know that bench."

Kara didn't move. Danielle's voice cracked.

"Just the last thing I thought I'd…ever…see."

Kara put an arm around her.

 _Danielle lay on her side, in the grass. Arms were too weak to hold her head now. The moaning around her seemed far away._

 _A handsome bench._

Kara was scribbling on a postcard, at the visitors' center. Danielle stepped out of the rest room, looking refreshed. Kara planted a stamp on the card, and a five in the donation box.

Danielle did her best, not to glance at the card. But couldn't resist a quick jab, as Kara dropped it in the mail box.

"Does your 'friend' ever get fan mail?"

Kara smiled, and winced, all at once. "Sometimes. Not as often as you'd think."

 _Esther and Danielle listened slack-jawed, to the radio, as the President gave a speech nobody saw coming._

" _The flying being, who restrained Supergirl in March, is from the planet Mars. A survivor of a war, that wiped out a great civilization. A war that didn't leave brick standing upon brick. He came to this planet as a refugee, a fugitive. And found a second chance. To protect innocent lives, with his remarkable gifts. I believe he has earned a right we Americans treasure. The right to be left alone. Provided we obey the laws of this land. Something he has sworn to uphold. I am asking you, my fellow citizens, to give him the space he needs. To do his job. As part of an organization."_

 _They could almost hear her Mona Lisa smile._

" _That shall remain nameless."_

Danielle had mentioned possibly heading in town on the Orange Line. Checking out the Aquarium, or the North End. Nothing came of it. After exploring the Arboretum another 1/2 hour, she finally brought up the elephant in the room.

"Donna. I called her. A few days later."

" _I'll save you the trouble, Danni." Danielle heard a sigh, over the line._

" _Yes - I was a_ _ **zombie**_ _for a day and a half."_

 _Danielle burst out laughing._

" _The old school variety. Not the George Romero kind."_

 _Danielle evened out her breath, to keep from crying._

" _God's sake, Donna. I wasn't gonna use that word."_

" _Why not? My niece did."_

 _Danielle wiped away a tear._

" _I'll say this, though," Donna continued. "Having my mind, my choices, taken from me? Makes the whole 'brush with death' thing easier to deal with."_

 _Danielle smiled. "How are you, Donna?"_

 _A beat._

" _I've been better."_

"She puts on a good show, Kara." Danielle paused, and looked at her.

"How you two doing?"

 _Kara and Donna sat again on the floor, backs against the couch. Avoiding each other's gaze._

" _My people. My…family. Took the easy way out. They created a problem. Couldn't solve it. And dumped it somewhere else, Donna. So Krypton's headache became Earth's."_

 _Kara stared ahead. Yeah, I really said that._

 _Donna gave her a 'ya think?' look for the ages._

 _Kara nodded. "Right." Her voice cracked. "Wish I had figured it out, sooner. Stopped it sooner."_

 _Donna turned to her, a cold anger in her eyes. "I wish lots of things, Kara."_

 _She looked down to the floor. Kara could sense the tightness in her, waiting to burst._

" _It's - okay."_

 _Donna took off her glasses. Her lip trembled. She took a breath. And sobbed._

Kara seemed to study the grass.

"We're - getting there."

 _Donna stepped out of her bathroom. Kara noticed the ends of her hair were still damp. She gazed down, at Kara's hand. And slowly took it._

They picked up some rice and beans at the Harvest Co-Op, and arrived back at the apartment at 4PM. Esther set aside the fish she was about to grill, and gave Kara a big hug.

"So good to meet you, Kara! Wish you could stay longer." She stepped back, to get a better look at their guest. "You must have such stories to tell."

Esther ran a hand over Danielle's sweaty hair. Then, seemed to take another look at her reddish face. And back to the unsweaty, not-red-faced Kara. "Were you two out all d-?"

Danielle suddenly put a hand on Esther's shoulder. "Sunblock. You know, Kara, Esther here is a genuine, unsung hero of the Big Headache. Went from her bedroom floor to the E.R. in 20 minutes. Worked 18 hours straight, treating all the accident victims that day."

Kara beamed. Esther shrugged.

"What I get paid for." She then spoke to Kara, but pointed to Danielle.

" **This** one, though. Walks into the waiting room. People are sore, scared, stressed. And knows what to tell each one."

Kara glanced at Danielle, who looked happy to move on.

"A kind word. A swift kick in the ass. All the tension in the room eased off. And she left, just as my boss was wondering what business she had there."

Danielle and Kara exchanged a quick look.

"That's what I **don't** get paid for."

Esther smiled, and shook her head. "Poor thing was wiped out the next day.

Esther wasn't buying it, as Kara downed the last of her ice tea.

"I swear, l've never come within six blocks of Supergirl. A red and blue dot in the sky, that's all I've seen. I don't go looking for trouble. That's her job."

Danielle put on her best poker face.

Esther took the glass, washed it, and looked at them both.

"Full of surprises, you two. I thought Danni was the thrifty type. Now she's jumping out of airplanes, and flying to the Yukon for a folk festival."

Danni raised a hand. "Actually it's in the Northwest - ah, never mind."

Kara regretted that she couldn't spend the night. Had a late train to catch, in the Back Bay. But brought along a little thank you gift. A DVD of 'For All Mankind'. A documentary about the Apollo astronauts.

Esther was out by the time they made it to lunar orbit.

The Brian Eno music was very soothing…

The goggles were a bit tight. She'd survive. Just a test run, after all.

Kara must have planned the route, ahead of time. Woods and streams. Farms. Even golf courses.

Danielle quit staring down, and spoke softly in her ear.

"Kara. This is…you are…but. The Fortress. I'm guessing it's a long haul. Even from Yellowknife?"

"It is."

"Dream come true and all. But, could we pick up the pace a bit? So I can get used to it?"

She felt Kara's hands gently clasp her own.

"Thought you'd never ask."

A rush of air. A joyous screech…

J'onn J'onzz filled Kara in on what she'd missed, the last two weeks. It wasn't much.

Except for the new HQ. Which she'd learned about. Five minutes ago.

She looked around the light and airy space. No more coal mine. Agents would give her a quick nod. And give the two of them plenty of room.

"Nice to see a bit of Sol at the DEO. Nice to see this place being built from the ground up." She snapped her fingers.

"Oh, that's right. No one ever told me."

"You were just a little busy, Kara," the DEO's Director pointed out.

"I would have been happy to help, J'onn. Hey, you know how many times Alex said I should get into construction?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell me."

Kara looked over her glasses, at the Martian. She'd never worn her civies at HQ before. Things were changing.

"I was skeptical of this 'tour' of your's, Kara. Expected more show-boating. But you brought hope, to a lot of people." He smiled.

Uh oh.

"And…there's a few days in North America, that you've been somewhat vague about. Any light you can shed on that? Miss Danvers?"

She nodded. "Well, I'm glad you mentioned it. Because I have a message. For you. Director."

She heard the faintest sigh. And savored it…

 _Hello, sir_

 _I know what the wags on-line are calling you_

 _The 'Martian Manhunter'_

 _I'm not going there_

 _I'm - pretty sure you know who I am_

 _You've given us both plenty of space_

 _Only fair I do the same for you_

 _So…Kara won't be showing me around Catco_

 _We won't be trading stories, late into the night, on her couch_

 _(have you been to her place? I've seen pictures; it's gorgeous!)_

 _Anyway_

 _Her friends won't be asking 'Who is that?'_

 _Nor her enemies_

 _Sir, that night? In March?_

 _Kara w-…someone would have died that night_

 _If not for you_

 _You gave up so much for her_

 _And I can't thank you enough_

…

 _Keep up the good work_

 _A friend of a friend_

Kara finished her message.

A pause.

"Give you a tour?"

"Love to, J'onn."

An alarm blared throughout the facility.

"Nice while it lasted," Kara muttered to herself.

Agent Vasquez raced up to them.

"Sir! Ma'am! An object has entered the atmosphere. All Earth-orbit satellites are accounted for. And it's heading for National City."

Kara blinked. "A - meteor? Something the telescopes missed?"

Vasquez shook her head, as she handed her tablet to the Director. "Meteors don't slow down, ma'am. Alter course. Not like this."

J'onn J'onzz quickly went over the little data they had. "Right. I'm going up there. Seeing what we're dealing with. Supergirl, you're with…"

A whoosh of air. He turned, and saw nothing but a pair of glasses, bouncing on a desk.

"Vasquez. Do you ever get used to that?"

"No sir. Hope I never do"…

FIVE YEARS EARLIER

 _Danielle's eyes shot open. Her feet were back on the solid floor. In their dorm room._

 _It was. And it wasn't._

 _The walls seemed to curve, in the distance. Like a funhouse hall-of-mirrors._

 _Kara was gone. And Zatanna was still here._

 _In her working clothes. Fishnets, top hat, and everything in between. Her eyes were closed._

" _Danielle," she said softly. Zee took a breath. Opened her eyes. And did the last thing Danielle would have expected._

 _She doffed her hat to her. Not out mockery._

 _Out of respect._

" _I have a proposal for you."_

 **TO BE CONCLUDED**


	34. Epilogue

" _Danielle - I have a proposal for you."_

 _Danielle Moran, college freshman, weather buff, and a mile in over head, stared at the magician. Zatanna peered into her top hat. No star of the stage. No hero, battling darkness. Just someone, with regrets._

" _I wanted a bit of privacy. We don't have much time."_

 _The hat was just in the way, now. She tossed it on the bed behind her._

" _Not that I have done anything today, to earn your trust."_

 _Danielle blinked._

" _Just say the word. And I'll take you back. But please. Hear me out first."_

 _A hoarse whisper escaped from Danielle._

" _A…deal?"_

 _Zatanna tilted her head. "It isn't quite like th-"_

 _Danielle stepped within inches of her face. Glared at her. Astral plane or no._

" _The most amazing person. I'll ever meet. The most amazing story. I'll ever hear. And I'll never know it," she hissed._

 _She looked ready to throw a punch. Zatanna looked ready to take one._

" _So tell me, Zee. What can you offer me?"_

 _The reply came, soft and gentle._

" _It's not what I can give you. It's what you can give Kara."_

 _Danielle slowly sighed. And nodded…_

Six years later, Esther was chatting, in Creole, with a cousin. The smell of chicken on the grill wafted though the yard. It was 7PM, on a muggy night in July. Her wedding was 20 hours away.

She felt the crowd part behind her. Turned around. Saw Danielle, with a frazzled looking Kara Danvers. And laughed.

Hugs ensued. "I'm so glad you came!" She laid a hand on Kara's shoulder. "Danni wasn't sure you'd make it. Not even last night. How was your flight?"

Kara shrugged, and adjusted her glasses. "Oh, a layover or two more than I hoped." She looked around the crowded yard. "So, where's Eduardo? The lucky guy…"

 _Zatanna got to the point. "She lost her world, Danielle."_

 _A small voice. "I…know that."_

" _Yes. We both know it. But we didn't see it. Live through it. Only Kara did. No one else."_

 _Which begged the question._

" _But, what about - her cousin? Didn't they leave together? Isn't she…_ _ **younger**_ _than him?"_

' _Zee' conceded. "Good questions all. Ones she'll be happy to answer. That, and so much more." She shook her head. "Just not today."_

The bride-to-be had a moment to herself. Danielle asked to meet her downstairs, for a quick word. Kara was waiting. To ask a favor.

"Esther, I would appreciate it, very much, if you didn't mention National City this weekend."

The nurse raised an eyebrow. And noticed Danielle, planted in the doorway, facing out. Like a 5'2" bouncer.

"Any reason?"

"Just don't want to be grilled about plots and creatures and space operas. It'll all be there, when I get back."

Esther smiled. "But you've got Supergirl looking out for you. Can't be all bad."

" _What she lost? She has to deal with, Danielle. At her own pace."_

 _The magician smiled to herself. "I'm asking you, to let a stranger turn the dials on your weekend. Your memories. Your life." Danielle narrowed her eyes._

 _All business now. "I'm asking you, to give Kara, a little time and space."_

 _The Moran family motto? Never take a first offer._

" _You're asking for what you can just take."_

 _Zatanna shook her head. "I've done that enough. No - this has to be your decision."_

 _Danielle didn't flinch._

" _How little?"_

Kara listened, wide-eyed, as Esther told stories from her home, Gonave Island. How slaves hid from the French colonists there. How some Polish-American jarhead, assigned to Haiti in the 1920's, rescued the island's Queen. And was proclaimed King Faustin II, for his trouble. Until the Marine Corps shipped him out. Supposedly.

Even Danielle had heard it all before. But many looked their way, as Kara laughed. Esther shrugged. "Good story. Maybe they agreed on it, from the beginning. To forget what a dry, barren place it was. Is."

Kara shook her head. "Dry, maybe. Not barren."

 _The 'Mistress of Magic' seemed thoughtful. "No one's fate is written, Danielle. But, I think, the day is coming. When Kara sees something, that_ _ **has**_ _to be done. Something that can't be waved off. Explained away. Something only a 'Daughter of Krypton' can do."_

Graves Light stuck its neck out into Boston Harbor, about 9 miles from downtown. It was automated long ago. The owners made it out there, a few times a week. They weren't there now, at 2AM, feet dangling over the ledge.

"Wow," Danielle mused. "We're trespassing. On private property. I'm a bad influence on you." Kara grinned.

Danielle talked about her brother's (mis)adventures, as a magician. He hadn't been invited to the Magic Castle, just yet. But he was trying.

She turned to Kara. "I won't ask for the dirt, on…" She waved a hand. "Stuff I don't need to know. But, anything closer to Terra Firma you can talk about?"

There was.

The sister, who came out.

"I - hope she makes someone happy."

The friend, from another universe.

"…Tell him I said 'Hi'."

The co-worker, who retired.

"The Peace Corps? Damn." Danielle peered into the murky night. "Godspeed, Donna."

 _Donna Martinez ran her fingers through the leaves, at Caswell State Forest. Kara's arms were gently wrapped around her. Just as well it was after dark. Easier not to think about the ground 100 feet below, when you can't see it._

 _Her flight was in 12 hours._

" _I don't suppose you'd…" Her voice cracked. "…like to come?"_

 _She heard Kara sniff._

" _Sorry. Laundry day"_

Danielle closed her eyes, feeling the water droplets on her cheeks. Until she sensed a light around her. She opened her eyes, and saw an impossibly full moon. Light bounced off the clouds below. She let go of Kara's hands. Her arms hung limp.

" _When she is ready for that? I think, she will be ready for you."_

The air was very dry up there.

"I don't deserve this."

"Danni - ".

"Hush." She looked at the clouds below her feet.

" _You can be ready for her. If you wish."_

"It wasn't fate that brought us together, Kara. It was a lottery. You could have been across the hall, or on another floor. Someone I barely knew, or never met. Dumb luck, that's all. I don't deserve this."

Danielle unleashed a laugh that seemed to echo off the clouds.

"But I'll take it!"

They both looked up, at Luna...

 _It couldn't be_ _ **that**_ _simple. Could it?_

" _I'll…remember," Danielle said simply._

" _Yes. Everything."_

 _She noticed how the dorm room 'wall' gently curbed, in the distance._

" _This too?"_

 _Zatanna nodded.. "This too."_

" _And what's my end? Of this sweet deal?", Danielle asked sharply._

 _The magician held up two fingers. "Two things."_

 _Too good to be true. Her hands started to tremble. The girl's eyes widened._

Sirens blared outside the apartment window, for the umpteenth time. Danielle sunk her head in her hands. The radio station tried to keep an even keel, over the disastrous day Boston was having. The frilly bridesmaid dress made her look as useless as she felt.

"Oh, God. What now, **Supergirl**?" The wedding was less than two hours away.

Kara clicked her tongue, as she looked out the window. The boots and cape were stashed away.

"Four way intersections. Lights are all green."

Even Danielle heard the distant sound of screeching brakes. And a collision. They both winced.

The name had already gone viral: 'The Hack Heard Round the World'.

 _Zatanna held up an open palm. Gently shook her head. "This isn't a deal with the devil."_

 _Danielle evened out her breathing. And waited._

" _This weekend. Don't cling to it. Bury it. It will be your's, Danielle. All of it."_

 _She gave the magician a sidelong glance. "And part two?"_

" _Kara. Go to her."_

 _Danielle's patience grew thin. "And do what?"_

 _A shrug. "Give her a hug and a kiss. Swing a baseball bat at her skull." Danielle snorted at that one._

" _Both. Neither. Just do it in person." A hint of a smile. "And not a text."_

Rumors flew through the air. Bank balances showing zero. 911 operators seeing the 'blue screen of death'. Intergang making ransom demands of the Governor.

Or was it Cadmus?

Danielle finally returned a text. To her father:

still here :)

And asked Kara the big question. "Are your friends riding to the rescue?"

Kara sighed. "No. Lots of turf battles in government, the last year or two. Cyber crimes are handled elsewhere."

Actually, that wasn't the big question:

"Are **you** riding to the rescue?"

She studied the floor. "I promised Alex that Supergirl would leave any trouble to the locals. Unless it was a killer comet or something."

She tried a smile. It fooled neither of them.

"She thinks I'm tempting fate, just being here." An emergency broadcast alarm screeched from Danielle's phone. "Maybe she's right."

"I hate that sound," Danielle grumbled, as she checked for the announcement. "You'd think the world was coming to an - Ohh!"

She barely kept from dropping the phone. Regained her composure, and showed Kara the message.

THE POWER WILL GO OUT IN TEN SECONDS

HAVE A NICE DAY

A soft 'woomf' sound. Good as promised. In the dim and quiet apartment, Danielle hurled her phone against a wall.

A blur of motion. And there stood Kara, laying an intact phone on an end table.

"It doesn't help, Danni."

She glared at Kara. "No. But it sure feels good, right now."

A knock. They both gasped at the sound. Kara took a quick look at the door, and slipped the glasses back on.

"It's okay. It's Esther."

Danielle stared at her. "Esther. Here. 90 minutes before her wedding. And that's okay how?"

 _Danielle's hands balled into fists._

" _I have so many questions. And she doesn't want to go there."_

" _She would. For you."_

 _Zatanna spoke the last words kindly. It just made it worse. Danielle's eyes welled._

" _Yes. She would. No matter how much it…"_

 _Zatanna nodded._

Esther stood before them, breathless. Muttered something to herself in Creole. Rolled her eyes, and smiled at them both.

"Guys. I know."

They both tried their best poker face.

"That we're a couple?", Danielle deadpanned.

The three cracked up. The smile stayed on Esther's face, as she stood on tiptoe, fist held heroically high.

Danielle sighed. Kara kept a steady gaze.

"I know bodies," Esther explained. "Sweaty, smelly human bodies. At home. At work. The kind of things I didn't see in you, Kara. On a hot day in July, last year." Kara looked aside.

"And…my co-workers are about to get sweaty and smelly, themselves." A cold fury came over her.

"The hospital's AC has been shut off. Held for ransom. By knuckle draggers with laptops!" Danielle sucked in a breath. "Gods," Kara muttered.

A look of humility came over the nurse. "I know you have to fly under the radar, so to speak. There's nothing **she** can do. But is there something… **you** can do?"

Kara slowly took off her glasses. "I think so." She glanced at the old-school telephone on the wall. They took the hint. Danielle hustled Esther out the door.

"Wait." They stopped and turned around. Kara smiled.

"Just burn me a copy of the wedding video." They nodded, and were off.

Kara dialed a special number.

"Barb. It's me." She sighed.

"Yes, Oracle. Sorry. I'm in Boston. How can I help?"…

 _Zatanna gave the girl a caring look. Almost motherly._

" _It won't be easy. Not for her. Or her friends."_

 _Danielle seemed to think it over. "Well, in that case, forget it. It's the safe and boring life for me."_

 _Zatanna smirked._

The 60-something woman took the young lady's hand. "Oh, Madame! How could you stand it? Stuck in that elevator for 2 hours?"

A tired looking Kara Danvers shrugged. "Couldn't be helped. I'll give my apologies to Esther, when she has a moment."

She tried not to down the glass of wine in one gulp. As she was slicing into her cold chicken, Esther's aunt asked, "And where are you from, Miss Kara?"

"I grew up in Midvale. But enough about me…"

 _Danielle hesitated. Her eyes darted from side to side._

" _A little time, and space," Zatanna repeated. "I think you both need it right now, Danielle."_

 _The girl locked eyes with her. "I want to ask - what did the breeze smell like? What stories did they tell? What did they do right? What went wrong?"_

 _The 'Mistress of Magic' was getting desperate. "Danni, you_ _ **will!**_ _And she will. In time."_

 _Danielle couldn't resist one last jab. "Thought no one's fate was written."_

 _Touche. Zatanna smiled. "Best guess."_

 _A second later, she grunted in pain, eyes shut tight._

" _Zee?" Then Danielle noticed something. That tiny little, ice cream headache she could feel. It was getting worse, by the second._

 _The room started to darken. Zatanna opened her eyes._

" _I kind of need an answer, Danielle."_

In the supply closet, Danielle went over the headlines on her phone, for the 3rd time. About the team in Markovia, that unleashed the malware on Boston. Locked in a toolshed, when the police arrived. All the hard drives waiting patiently, yards away. Hired hands, of course. But it was a start.

And just a 9,000 mile round trip.

"Mmm. Guess they'll be looking for us soon."

Danielle looked up at Kara holding Esther, slowly spinning, a foot beneath the ceiling.

"Not us, Mrs. Martinez. Just you."

Esther opened her eyes. Sighed. "I…suppose."

And down they slowly went.

 _The whole 'brush with oblivion' thing gave Danielle a second wind. She got into Zee's face. Spoke in the clearest voice she could muster._

" _I'm not happy about this, Zatanna Zatarra." Then, her face softened._

" _But I can live with it." She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. A step back. And extended a hand._

" _Deal."_

Danielle and Kara hugged on the rooftop, back in JP. A cloudy night. Good for flying unnoticed. Danielle could only nod. Kara quietly took off.

The cape was the last thing she saw.

 _She could feel it slipping away. The floor. Her mind. But not before one last question._

" _What's her…real name…Zee?"_

 _Danielle heard a sigh. "She will tell you that her-…Kara. Kara Zor-El. That is her real name. Well, her other name."_

 _Danielle struggled to form the word. "K- Kara?"_

" _Yes. Go figure."_

 _A faint "Mmm" was all she could manage._

 _The star of the stage drew down the curtain._

" _But to me, she'll always be: Kara Zor-El."_

" _The Girl Who Lived."_

 _Danielle smiled._

 _For some reason._

 **THE END**

Thanks for following.


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